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Changing plans: neural correlates of executive control in monkey and human frontal cortex

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Abstract

Changing plans depends on executive control, the orchestration of behavior based on knowledge of both goal and context. Dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC) and anterior cingulate (ACC) cortices are clearly involved in these processes. Intracranial recordings in these regions were obtained from a monkey performing an executive control-challenging task that is widely used in clinic and laboratory to assess the integrity of cognitive function, the AX version of the continuous performance task (AX-CPT), and directly compared to scalp-recorded evoked potentials in humans. In this task the subject presses a button when detecting a frequent cue–target probe sequence in a stream of letters presented on a computer screen, and withholds response following incorrect sequences. Thus correct performance requires correct encoding of cue and probe instruction and inhibitory control. Intracranial recordings showed that DLPFC in the monkey was primarily activated by conditions that required inhibition of imminent action, as had been shown in human event-related potential (ERP) recordings. Different subregions of monkey ACC were activated primarily by either initiating or inhibiting action, whereas human ERP had shown ACC activation in both situations. We suggest that simultaneous activation of both types of subregions in conflict conditions may account the ubiquitous ACC activation observed with fMRI and ERP in those conditions.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants MH55620 and MH01439 (to DCJ). We thank Drs Pejman Sehatpour and Glenn Wylie for help with dipole modeling and Drs Jonathan D. Cohen and Jeffrey D. Schall for helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Cognitive Neurosciences and Schizophrenia, The Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, 10962, USA

    Elisa C. Dias, Tammy McGinnis, John F. Smiley, John J. Foxe, Charles E. Schroeder & Daniel C. Javitt

  2. Program in Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, City College, City University of New York, New York, NY, 10031, USA

    John J. Foxe

  3. Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA

    Charles E. Schroeder

  4. Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Daniel C. Javitt

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  1. Elisa C. Dias
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  2. Tammy McGinnis
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  4. John J. Foxe
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  6. Daniel C. Javitt
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Correspondence to Elisa C. Dias.

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Dias, E.C., McGinnis, T., Smiley, J.F. et al. Changing plans: neural correlates of executive control in monkey and human frontal cortex. Exp Brain Res 174, 279–291 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0444-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-006-0444-4

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