Language
Country/Area
No result found
The Hidden Battlefield in the Brain: How Does the Anterior Cingulate Cortex Process Conflict?
In our minds, there is a system that protects us, and that is the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). This specific area is located in the front part of the brain's frontal lobe, like a "collar" surrounding the front part of the corpus callosum, and consists of Brodmann areas 24, 32, and 33. The ACC is not only crucial for the allocation of attention, prediction of feedback, and decision-making processes, but also plays a central role in the processing of emotions and conflicts.
The anterior cingulate cortex is a critical brain function in the perception of effort, detection of conflict, and regulation of emotional responses during task performance.
Anatomy of ACC
The anterior cingulate cortex can be dissected based on its cognitive (dorsal) and emotional (ventral) components. The dorsal part of the ACC is connected to the prefrontal and parietal cortex, while its ventral part is connected to the amygdala, nuclei, hypothalamus, and hippocampus. This makes the ACC an important center in processing top-down and bottom-up stimuli and allocating appropriate control to other brain areas.
ACC’s mission
The functional performance of the ACC in processing tasks, especially in the face of conflicts and potential errors. For example, the Eriksen flanker task and the Stroop task can effectively activate the ACC, allowing participants to face conflicting information from different sources. In the Stroop task, participants need to identify colors, and when these colors do not match the text content, the activity of the ACC increases significantly.
The basic theory of anterior cingulate cortex in conflict monitoring and error detection states that when a conflict is detected, the ACC will provide signals to other brain areas to better deal with these conflicts.
Function of ACC
ACC is assigned a number of important functions, including error detection, task prediction, motivation, and regulation of emotional responses. A recent theory describes ACC as an active component that can detect and monitor errors in real time, assess their severity, and recommend appropriate actions.
Error detection and conflict monitoring
ACC's error detection capabilities have been proven through numerous studies. One of the studies showed that the ACC was active after errors on a task, which was related to the feedback responses participants received on the task. The ACC appears to be active not only during errors but also during correct responses, suggesting that the ACC may also have the ability to evaluate.
Relationship between pain and ACC
The ACC also plays an important role in pain perception. Functional MRI studies have shown that the ACC has a stronger emotional response to pain rather than a perceptual response to pain. The ACC also showed significant activity when participants faced social ostracism or rejection, suggesting a role for the ACC in monitoring social situations.
The activity level of ACC is related to the individual's perception of emotional pain in social situations, reflecting the high degree of interaction between ACC and body and mind in summer.
Pathology of ACC
Studying damaged samples of the ACC helps us understand the role of this region in normal brain function. For example, damage to the ACC may lead to behavioral problems such as loss of error detection ability and emotional instability. The neurochemical milieu of the ACC has also been shown to be abnormal in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, demonstrating the importance of the ACC in different psychopathological conditions.
Anxiety and Depression
The relationship between ACC and anxiety has gradually received attention. Research shows that the activity of the ACC in regulating anxiety can be changed through mindfulness practice. In addition, the ACC is also closely related to the manifestations of depression, and the use of deep brain stimulation in this area has shown the potential to reduce depressive symptoms.
In further research, can we uncover the profound impact of ACC on human behavior and emotion regulation?
