Lecture 13: The Anterior Cingulate Cortex
Anterior Cingulate Cortex
• Autonomic processing, pain processing in particular (well and long understood role)
• Some cognitive functions proposed for ACC recently, including error and conflict processing,
reward and strategy shifting
Anatomy
• Cingulate cortex is composed of the cingulate gyrus immediately above the corpus callosum
o Up until the first sulcus, the Cingulate sulcus (coronally)
o Part of neocortex, in midline fissure
• Anatomically obvious – easily defined by corpus callosum and cingulate sulcus
Subdivisions of CC
• Vogt et al. (1995) suggested that the cingulate cortex should be subdivided into 4 sub-
compartments (on the basis of cytoarchitectonic, neurochemical and connectivity Commented [IM257]: Expression of neurotransmistter and NT
receptors
considerations)
• Could be split principally into 3 chunks, running from anterior to posterior:
o Anterior CC
§ Subgenual ACC
§ Perigenual ACC
o Mid-CC
§ Anterior MCC
§ Posterior MCC
o Posterior-CC
• The fourth area is the retrosplenial cortex – of particular interest in spatial cognition:
o Retrosplenial Cortex
§ Spatial cognition
§ Heavily connected to both parietal and parahippocampal regions
§ Candidate regions for the transformation of allocentric to egocentric
navigation, essential for navigation and memory
ACC connectivity (Perez et al. 2012)
• Highly linked to limbic/emotional/memory circuits in subcortical areas discussed in this
course, like OFC
• The anterior cingulate cortex has an important and extensive connectivity with:
o Posterior CC
o Prefrontal cortex (inc. dorso-lateral PFC and in particular OFC)
§ Higher cognitive functions, decision and reward processing (economic value)
o Amygdala
o PAG (brain stem)
§ Motor-effector area
§ Influences autonomic/ bodily behaviour
, o Thalamic nuclei
o Premotor areas
o Hippocampus
There are connections implicating that the ACC may be involved in higher cognitive functions such
as decision-making and reward processing
And at the same time, its connections between the amygdala and the PAG (motor effector area) in
the brainstem suggests that it can send and receive output that might influence behaviour and
basic bodily and autonomic state
Conclusion: ACC is an interesting area located at a cross-roads between autonomic/ bodily state
function and higher cognitive functions
Comparative anatomy of cingulate cortex (Vogt and Paxinos, 2014)
Cingulate cortex can also be found in rodents; doesn’t just have to be studied in humans and non-
human primates
Rather easy to define in rats, particularly ACC, compared to other frontal cortices Commented [IM258]: PCC is not defined in rodents – instead
retrosplenial cortex is relatively large and takes on the whole of the
posterior aspect of the rat CC
The ACC can be defined not only in humans and non-human primates but also in rodents
This is possibly why retrosplenial cortex is so heavily studied in
rodents for those interested in spatial cognition – it forms a lot of
The main difference between the human CC and that of the rodent: rodent cortex
• Areas 24c, 33, 23 and 31 do not exist - as rats do not have a cingulate sulcus
• The PCC is not present - the posterior aspect of the cc is wholly made up by the retrosplenial
cortex in rodents
• In the rat, the MCC is not parsed into anterior and posterior divisions
Just looking at its anatomical connectivity, the ACC seems to lie at a cross-road between many
different brain areas
One of the problematic aspects of the ACC is that an awful lot of different functions have been
proposed for it, and there is evidence for many of these
Suggested functional roles of the ACC:
1. Autonomic response
2. Nociception
3. Higher level cognitive abilities: Reward processing/ Decision making/ Conflict monitoring
a. Emotion
b. Error detection
c. Novelty detection
d. Action selection
e. Working memory
f. Conflict monitoring
g. Prediction error
Anterior Cingulate Cortex
• Autonomic processing, pain processing in particular (well and long understood role)
• Some cognitive functions proposed for ACC recently, including error and conflict processing,
reward and strategy shifting
Anatomy
• Cingulate cortex is composed of the cingulate gyrus immediately above the corpus callosum
o Up until the first sulcus, the Cingulate sulcus (coronally)
o Part of neocortex, in midline fissure
• Anatomically obvious – easily defined by corpus callosum and cingulate sulcus
Subdivisions of CC
• Vogt et al. (1995) suggested that the cingulate cortex should be subdivided into 4 sub-
compartments (on the basis of cytoarchitectonic, neurochemical and connectivity Commented [IM257]: Expression of neurotransmistter and NT
receptors
considerations)
• Could be split principally into 3 chunks, running from anterior to posterior:
o Anterior CC
§ Subgenual ACC
§ Perigenual ACC
o Mid-CC
§ Anterior MCC
§ Posterior MCC
o Posterior-CC
• The fourth area is the retrosplenial cortex – of particular interest in spatial cognition:
o Retrosplenial Cortex
§ Spatial cognition
§ Heavily connected to both parietal and parahippocampal regions
§ Candidate regions for the transformation of allocentric to egocentric
navigation, essential for navigation and memory
ACC connectivity (Perez et al. 2012)
• Highly linked to limbic/emotional/memory circuits in subcortical areas discussed in this
course, like OFC
• The anterior cingulate cortex has an important and extensive connectivity with:
o Posterior CC
o Prefrontal cortex (inc. dorso-lateral PFC and in particular OFC)
§ Higher cognitive functions, decision and reward processing (economic value)
o Amygdala
o PAG (brain stem)
§ Motor-effector area
§ Influences autonomic/ bodily behaviour
, o Thalamic nuclei
o Premotor areas
o Hippocampus
There are connections implicating that the ACC may be involved in higher cognitive functions such
as decision-making and reward processing
And at the same time, its connections between the amygdala and the PAG (motor effector area) in
the brainstem suggests that it can send and receive output that might influence behaviour and
basic bodily and autonomic state
Conclusion: ACC is an interesting area located at a cross-roads between autonomic/ bodily state
function and higher cognitive functions
Comparative anatomy of cingulate cortex (Vogt and Paxinos, 2014)
Cingulate cortex can also be found in rodents; doesn’t just have to be studied in humans and non-
human primates
Rather easy to define in rats, particularly ACC, compared to other frontal cortices Commented [IM258]: PCC is not defined in rodents – instead
retrosplenial cortex is relatively large and takes on the whole of the
posterior aspect of the rat CC
The ACC can be defined not only in humans and non-human primates but also in rodents
This is possibly why retrosplenial cortex is so heavily studied in
rodents for those interested in spatial cognition – it forms a lot of
The main difference between the human CC and that of the rodent: rodent cortex
• Areas 24c, 33, 23 and 31 do not exist - as rats do not have a cingulate sulcus
• The PCC is not present - the posterior aspect of the cc is wholly made up by the retrosplenial
cortex in rodents
• In the rat, the MCC is not parsed into anterior and posterior divisions
Just looking at its anatomical connectivity, the ACC seems to lie at a cross-road between many
different brain areas
One of the problematic aspects of the ACC is that an awful lot of different functions have been
proposed for it, and there is evidence for many of these
Suggested functional roles of the ACC:
1. Autonomic response
2. Nociception
3. Higher level cognitive abilities: Reward processing/ Decision making/ Conflict monitoring
a. Emotion
b. Error detection
c. Novelty detection
d. Action selection
e. Working memory
f. Conflict monitoring
g. Prediction error
