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Surprise! A unifying model of dorsal anterior cingulate function?

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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.

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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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Authors and Affiliations

  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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