Anterior cingulate cortex

What is the anterior cingulate cortex?

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a brain region involved in attention, error monitoring, emotion, and other aspects of behavior. Its subdivisions work in different circuits.

Where Is the Anterior Cingulate Cortex?

The ACC lies on the medial, or inward-facing, surface of each cerebral hemisphere. It occupies the front portion of the cingulate cortex, near the front of the corpus callosum. This anatomical overview of the cingulate cortex describes its location and subdivisions.

How it works

Bush and colleagues (2000) reviewed evidence from lesions, brain imaging, and EEG linking the ACC with regulation of cognitive and emotional processing.

One influential account describes it as a conflict detector: a system that helps monitor competing responses and the need for control. This explains part of its function, rather than everything the region does.

A conflict example: the Stroop task

Imagine seeing the word BLUE printed in red ink and being asked to name the ink color. The required answer is “red,” while reading the word supplies the competing answer “blue.” A matching item—the word RED in red ink—does not create that same mismatch. Researchers use comparisons like this to study control over competing responses, including the ACC's contribution. Research using Stroop-like tasks also shows why ACC activity cannot simply be equated with response conflict.

Studying errors

An error in a response task can be accompanied by the error-related negativity, an EEG signal. Researchers use such signals to study performance monitoring. Connecting a signal to awareness or correction requires examining the task and the wider circuit.