Conflict and control
One influential idea holds that this region detects conflict between competing responses, as in tasks where a word's meaning clashes with its printed colour. The signal is thought to indicate that more cognitive control is needed. A related account proposes that it helps estimate whether exerting control is worth its cost.
Emotion and pain
The region responds to physical pain and is connected to systems involved in bodily arousal. Older reviews divided it into a dorsal cognitive part and a rostral emotional part. A later synthesis argued that negative emotion, pain and cognitive control overlap considerably in the dorsal region, which challenges a simple division.
Interpretive caution
Because the region is active during so many tasks, no single function is agreed. Activation alone does not reveal what mental process is occurring. Researchers are still working out whether varied findings reflect one common computation, such as evaluating the value of control, or a set of neighbouring subregions.
Further reading
- Botvinick, M. M., Braver, T. S., Barch, D. M., Carter, C. S., & Cohen, J. D. (2001). Conflict monitoring and cognitive control. Psychological Review, 108, 624-652.
- Bush, G., Luu, P., & Posner, M. I. (2000). Cognitive and emotional influences in anterior cingulate cortex. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 215-222.
- Shackman, A. J., et al. (2011). The integration of negative affect, pain and cognitive control in the cingulate cortex. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 12, 154-167.