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Conflict-induced behavioural adjustment: a clue to the executive functions of the prefrontal cortex

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 10, pages 141–152 (2009)Cite this article

An Erratum to this article was published on 04 February 2009

Key Points

  • In our daily life, we often rely on executive, or cognitive, control processes, which optimize the flexible use of our limited cognitive resources to currently prioritized tasks. Such control may become necessary when automatic or previously learned behaviours can no longer achieve the goal.

  • An experimentally well-studied example of behavioural adjustment in changing environments is the kind of behavioural modulation that is triggered by the presence of competition or conflict between behavioural options. Studying the neural substrate and mechanisms of conflict-induced behavioural adjustment has opened an important window on to the neural basis of executive control.

  • From observations of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activation in tasks that elicited conflict, influential theories have emerged that suggested that the ACC detects the conflict and conveys conflict-related information to areas such as the DLPFC, leading to adjustments in executive-control levels and consequently to better performance when the subject faces the conflict again.

  • Recent studies have revealed striking similarities in conflict-induced behavioural adjustment between humans and monkeys, indicating that monkeys can provide a model to study the underlying neural substrates and mechanisms of such behaviour.

  • Recent studies in humans and monkeys indicate a crucial role for the DLPFC in adaptive and dynamic modulation of executive control, and also suggest involvement of the posterior parietal cortex, the inferior frontal junction area and the cerebellum in conflict-induced behavioural adjustment. However, these studies do not support a causal or indispensable role for the ACC in conflict-induced behavioural adjustment.

Abstract

The behavioural adjustment that follows the experience of conflict has been extensively studied in humans, leading to influential models of executive-control adjustment. Recent studies have revealed striking similarities in conflict-induced behavioural adjustment between humans and monkeys, indicating that monkeys can provide a model to study the underlying neural substrates and mechanisms of such behaviour. These studies have advanced our knowledge about the role of different prefrontal brain regions, including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), in executive-control adjustment and suggest a pivotal role for the DLPFC in the dynamic tuning of executive control and, consequently, in behavioural adaptation to changing environments.

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Figure 1: Examples of tasks that involve conflict.
Figure 2: Two main theories regarding the role of the anterior cingulate cortex in conflict-induced behavioural adjustment.
Figure 3: Conflict-induced behavioural adjustment and prefrontal cell activity in monkeys.
Figure 4: A model of the conflict detection–resolution process in goal-directed behaviour.
Figure 5: Regions associated with conflict-induced behavioural adjustment in humans.

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Acknowledgements

Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan. Also supported by the UK Medical Research Council (M.J.B.).

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  1. Farshad A. Mansouri and Mark J. Buckley: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cognitive Brain Mapping Laboratory, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Wako, 351-0198, Saitama, Japan

    Farshad A. Mansouri & Keiji Tanaka

  2. Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University, Oxford, OX1 3UD, UK

    Mark J. Buckley

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S1 (figure)

Glossary

Event-related potential

(ERP). An electrophysiological response of the brain to an internal or external stimulus, which can be measured through electrodes on the scalp.

Arrow–word Stroop variant

A test in which subjects are presented with a left- or right-pointing arrow above a word (for example, 'left' or 'right') and have to indicate by button press the direction denoted by the word or arrow. The arrow and word might instruct the same direction (congruent condition) or opposite directions (incongruent condition) or only one of them might denote a direction (neutral condition).

Saccade-countermanding task

A task in which subjects fixating their eyes on a spot at the centre of a display should change their gaze direction (saccade) towards a peripherally cued location when the fixation point goes off. In some trials the fixation spot reappears at an unpredictable time and the subjects should cancel the saccade.

Obsessive–compulsive disorder

A behavioural disorder that makes people repeatedly and unnecessarily express a behaviour.

Schizophrenia

A mental disorder that makes it difficult to have normal emotional responses, social interaction and organized thoughts and that is accompanied by unreal experiences, such as delusions or hallucinations.

Mood disorder

A mood disorder is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression that sometimes alternate with periods of elevated mood.

Error-related negativity

A negative deflection in a response-locked ERP that reaches its peak ∼100 ms after the response initiation in error trials.

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Mansouri, F., Tanaka, K. & Buckley, M. Conflict-induced behavioural adjustment: a clue to the executive functions of the prefrontal cortex. Nat Rev Neurosci 10, 141–152 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2538

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