A causal role for the anterior mid-cingulate cortex in negative affect and cognitive control

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Psychiatry

Background:

• The anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC) is implicated in negative affect, pain, and cognitive control.
• It is hypothesized that the aMCC uses punishment information to regulate aversive behaviors.
• Naturally occurring lesions in the aMCC are rare, limiting causal inference studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the causal role of the aMCC in processing negative affect and cognitive control using lesion data.
• To test if anterior cingulotomy patients exhibit deficits in recognizing negative facial emotions and performing cognitive control tasks.
• To determine if lesion size in the aMCC correlates with the severity of these deficits.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 94 participants: 15 patients with treatment-resistant depression post-anterior cingulotomy, 20 untreated patients, and 59 healthy controls.
• Administered the Ekman 60 faces paradigm to assess facial emotion recognition.
• Utilized two Stroop paradigms to evaluate cognitive control, correlating lesion volume with performance impairments.

Main Results:

• Larger anterior mid-cingulate cortex lesion volumes predicted greater impairment in recognizing fear, disgust, and anger, but not surprise or happiness.
• No significant impairment was found in recognizing sadness.
• Larger lesion volumes predicted impaired Stroop cognitive control, particularly when defined by overlap with negative affect and cognitive control network masks.

Conclusions:

• Findings support a causal role for the anterior mid-cingulate cortex in processing negative affect and cognitive control.
• Lesions in the aMCC lead to specific deficits in recognizing negative emotions and executing cognitive control.
• Anterior cingulotomy may be therapeutically beneficial for mood, anxiety, and pain disorders due to its impact on the aMCC.