The midcingulate cortex and temporal integration

The ability to integrate information across time at multiple timescales is a vital element of adaptive behavior, because it provides the capacity to link events separated in time, extract useful information from previous events and actions, and to construct plans for behavior over time. Here we make the argument that this information integration capacity is a central function of the midcingulate cortex (MCC), by reviewing the anatomical, intrinsic network, neurophysiological, and behavioral properties of MCC. The MCC is the region of the medial wall situated dorsal to the corpus callosum and sometimes referred to as dACC. It is positioned within the densely connected core network of the primate brain, with a rich diversity of cognitive, somatomotor and autonomic connections. Furthermore, the MCC shows strong local network inhibition which appears to control the metastability of the region-an established feature of many cortical networks in which the neural dynamics move through a series of quasi-stationary states. We propose that the strong local inhibition in MCC leads to particularly long dynamic state durations, and so less frequent transitions. Apparently as a result of these anatomical features and synaptic and ionic determinants, the MCC cells display the longest neuronal timescales among a range of recorded cortical areas. We conclude that the anatomical position, intrinsic properties, and local network interactions of MCC make it a uniquely positioned cortical area to perform the integration of diverse information over time that is necessary for behavioral adaptation.