Anterior cingulate cortex is necessary for adaptation of action plans
Adam T Brockett1,2, Stephen S Tennyson1,2, Coreylyn A deBettencourt1,2
1Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742.
Summary
The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is essential for behavioral flexibility, enabling rats to suppress unwanted actions. Damage to the ACC impairs cognitive control by disrupting action plans in the dorsal medial striatum (DMS).
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Behavioral Neuroscience
Background:
- The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is implicated in mitigating competing signals.
- Its necessity for behavioral flexibility and modulation of downstream regions like the dorsal medial striatum (DMS) remains unproven.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if the ACC is necessary for behavioral flexibility.
- To investigate if ACC modulates DMS activity during cognitive control tasks.
Main Methods:
- Unilateral excitotoxic lesions of the ACC in rats.
- Recording from the dorsal medial striatum (DMS) ipsilateral to the lesion.
- Performance on a variant of the STOP-signal task.
Main Results:
- ACC-lesioned rats exhibited impaired performance on STOP trials.
- Failure to generate timely action plans in the DMS.
- Increased representation of to-be-inhibited behaviors.
Conclusions:
- The ACC is necessary for mitigating competing inputs.
- ACC plays a crucial role in cognitive control and behavioral flexibility.
- Findings support theoretical predictions regarding ACC function.
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