Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
Neuroimage. 2011 Jan 1;54(1):528-40. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.08.027. Epub 2010 Aug 20.
The last decade has seen considerable discussion regarding a theoretical account of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) function with particular focus on the anterior cingulate cortex. The proposed theories have included conflict detection, error likelihood prediction, volatility monitoring, and several distinct theories of error detection. Arguments for and against particular theories often treat mPFC as functionally homogeneous, or at least nearly so, despite some evidence for distinct functional subregions. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to simultaneously contrast multiple effects of error, conflict, and task-switching that have been individually construed in support of various theories. We found overlapping yet functionally distinct subregions of mPFC, with activations related to dominant error, conflict, and task-switching effects successively found along a rostral-ventral to caudal-dorsal gradient within medial prefrontal cortex. Activations in the rostral cingulate zone (RCZ) were strongly correlated with the unexpectedness of outcomes suggesting a role in outcome prediction and preparing control systems to deal with anticipated outcomes. The results as a whole support a resolution of some ongoing debates in that distinct theories may each pertain to corresponding distinct yet overlapping subregions of mPFC.
过去十年中，人们对内侧前额叶皮层（mPFC）的功能进行了大量的理论探讨，特别是在前扣带皮层。提出的理论包括冲突检测、错误可能性预测、波动监测，以及几种不同的错误检测理论。支持和反对特定理论的论据往往将 mPFC 视为功能同质的，或者至少是近于同质的，尽管有一些证据表明存在不同的功能亚区。在这里，我们使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）同时对比错误、冲突和任务转换的多种效应，这些效应在支持各种理论时都被单独构建。我们发现 mPFC 中有重叠但功能不同的亚区，与主导错误、冲突和任务转换效应相关的激活沿着 mPFC 的头侧-腹侧到尾侧-背侧梯度依次出现。扣带前区（RCZ）的激活与结果的意外性强烈相关，这表明其在结果预测和准备控制系统以应对预期结果方面发挥作用。总的来说，这些结果支持解决一些正在进行的争论，即不同的理论可能分别涉及 mPFC 的相应但重叠的不同亚区。
