Debates on the dorsomedial prefrontal/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex: insights for future research

Abstract

The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dmPFC/dACC) is a brain area subject to many theories and debates over its function(s). Even its precise anatomical borders are subject to much controversy. In the past decades, the dmPFC/dACC has been associated with more than fifteen different cognitive processes, which sometimes appear quite unrelated (e.g., body perception, cognitive conflict). As a result, understanding what the dmPFC/dACC does has become a real challenge for many neuroscientists. Several theories of this brain area's function(s) have been developed, leading to successive and competitive publications bearing different models, which sometimes contradict each other. During the last two decades, the lively scientific exchanges around the dmPFC/dACC have promoted fruitful research in cognitive neuroscience. In this review, we provide an overview of the anatomy of the dmPFC/dACC, summarize the state of the art of functions that have been associated with this brain area, and present the main theories aiming at explaining the dmPFC/dACC function(s). We explore the commonalities and the arguments between the different theories. Finally, we explain what can be learned from these debates for future investigations of the dmPFC/dACC and other brain regions’ functions.

A neurometabolic mechanism involving dmPFC/dACC lactate in physical effort-based decision-making

“…Therefore, we validated the robustness of our tasks not only for assessing effort-based decision-making across physical and mental domains as shown above (Results: Behavioral Results), but also by confirming their ability to engage the dmPFC/dACC and aIns during such processes. This supports the documented contributions of these regions to effort valuation and decision-making 10,11,61,[67][68][69][70][71] , with our analysis distinguishing this activation from factors like subjective value perception 60,62,63 or reaction times [64][65][66] .…”

“…Despite the well-documented roles of the dmPFC/dACC and aIns in regulating goal-directed behavior 11,56,68 , the mechanisms underlying individual variability in the willingness to exert effort remain largely unexplored. Our findings indicate that dmPFC/dACC lactate levels explain individual differences in decision-making processes related to physical effort, primarily through their impact on neural activity within this region.…”

A neurometabolic signature in the frontal cortex explains individual differences in effort-based decision-making

“…Despite the significant role of motivation in numerous life outcomes (Duckworth et al, 2015; Epstein & Silbersweig, 2015; Kanfer et al, 2017), the neurobiological underpinnings behind these individual differences remain largely unexplored. Our study bridges this gap by identifying specific neurometabolic factors in the dmPFC/dACC — a region critical to effort-based decision-making (Chong et al, 2017; Clairis & Lopez-Persem, 2023; Kurniawan et al, 2021; Le Bouc et al, 2023; Lopez-Gamundi et al, 2021b; Pessiglione et al, 2018; Soutschek et al, 2022)— that underlie individual variations in the decision to exert mental effort.…”

“…Neurobiologically, motivation and effort-based decision-making are closely linked to the functioning of specific brain regions, particularly the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dmPFC/dACC) (Bartra et al, 2013; Clairis & Lopez-Persem, 2023; Lopez-Gamundi et al, 2021; Pessiglione et al, 2018; Soutschek et al, 2022). The dmPFC/dACC plays a pivotal role in regulating motivated behavior and exerting mental and physical effort, with its activation being crucial in these cognitive processes (Chong et al, 2017; Kurniawan et al, 2021).…”

An advance in novel intelligent sensory technologies: From an implicit‐tracking perspective of food perception

“…The integration of different disciplines requires expertise from multiple domains. Particularly in the processing the neuroimaging data, the complex functional structure of certain brain regions remains a controversial and active topic even in the medical field (Clairis & Lopez-Persem, 2023), Consequently, it can be time-consuming to extensively train or consult experts from related fields to develop a strategy for handling data obtained from different methods. The final limitation is hardware facilities.…”