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Surprise! A unifying model of dorsal anterior cingulate function?

Nature Neuroscience volume 14, pages 1219–1220 (2011)Cite this article

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Few brain regions' functions have been debated as intensely as those of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. A computational model now suggests that seemingly diverse cingulate responses may be explained by a single construct, 'negative surprise', which occurs when actions do not produce the expected outcome.

Like Starbucks coffeehouses, the dACC/mPFC has gained notoriety by ubiquity: it is hard to think of a common cognitive or affective experimental protocol that has not in fact been found to elicit activity in this region in human neuroimaging studies. Similarly, single-unit electrophysiology studies in monkeys have found dACC/mPFC neurons to be exceptionally accommodating, with response profiles conforming to a multitude of cognitive constructs and model parameters across different experimental contexts. Not surprisingly, theoretical accounts of dACC/mPFC function abound. The more influential ones include error detection2, conflict monitoring3 and the prediction of error likelihood4, as well as a variety of computations underlying reinforcement-guided decision making, such as error-driven negative reinforcement learning signals5, the calculation of action values on the basis of previous action-outcome associations6 and the amount of effort involved in the action7, action value prediction error8, and the estimation of environmental volatility that determines the rate of action value learning9. But how can the dACC/mPFC be all things to all people? In their model1, Alexander and Brown build off traditional reinforcement learning approaches to offer an intriguing new hypothesis for the region's apparent functional promiscuity.

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Figure 1: A famous example of negative surprise, as enacted by subject G.W.B.

Charles Dharapak/AP

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  1. Tobias Egner is in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.,

    Tobias Egner

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  1. Tobias Egner
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Correspondence to Tobias Egner.

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Egner, T. Surprise! A unifying model of dorsal anterior cingulate function?. Nat Neurosci 14, 1219–1220 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2932

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