The role of medial-prefrontal neural systems in cognitive flexibility

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Cognitive flexibility is a defining aspect of human cognition, and is essential for balancing performance demands, managing belief formation and revision, and monitoring one's own behaviour and performance. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of cognitive flexibility consistently report activation of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). However, the precise role of the dACC in cognitive flexibility is under debate, and this challenge is underscored by the wide range of situations for which the dACC is activated. Also poorly understood are the neural networks that are connected to the dACC, and how these change or remain stable under various conditions requiring cognitive flexibility. The aim of the research program is to specify the common role of the dACC under a range of situations requiring cognitive flexibility, and to map out its neural connections. Given that the dACC is proposed to be involved in switching behaviour, changing beliefs, and maintaining a balance between self- and other-reflection, a better understanding of the function of this brain region, and its connections, is of critical importance for understanding human behaviour. This research also has clear implications for treatment; for example, belief formation and self-monitoring are impaired in certain clinical populations such as schizophrenia and autism.