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Anterior cingulate cortex and response conflict: effects of response modality and processing domain
D M Barch1, T S Braver, E Akbudak
1Department of Psychology, Washington University, One Brookings Drive, St. louis, MO 63130, USA. dbarch@artsci.wustl.edu
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|September 5, 2001
Summary
The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) shows activation for cognitive tasks. This study reveals that the same ACC regions respond to conflict across different response types (vocal, manual) and processing domains (verbal, spatial).
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Background:
- The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is consistently activated during higher cognitive functions.
- Previous research has not clarified if the ACC responds similarly across diverse response modalities and processing domains.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) exhibits modality- and domain-specific activation patterns.
- To determine if the ACC is involved in processing conflict across verbal and spatial domains, and with vocal and manual responses.
Main Methods:
- Employed rapid event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
- Utilized a spatial Stroop task with conditions for verbal and spatial processing.
- Acquired accuracy and reaction times for both manual and vocal responses.
Main Results:
- A significant response conflict effect was observed in one large ACC region for both vocal and manual responses.
- Three ACC regions showed significant response conflict effects for both spatial and verbal processing.
- No ACC regions demonstrated activity selective to a specific response modality or processing domain.
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is not selective for specific response modalities or processing domains.
- The same ACC regions appear to be responsive to conflict, regardless of whether the output is vocal or manual, or the processing is spatial or verbal.