The role of medial-prefrontal neural systems in cognitive flexibility

认知灵活性是人类认知的一个定义方面，对于平衡绩效要求、管理信念形成和修正以及监控自己的行为和绩效至关重要。认知灵活性的功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）研究一致报告背侧前扣带皮层（dACC）的激活。然而，dACC在认知灵活性中的确切作用仍在争论中，这一挑战被激活dACC的各种情况所强调。同样知之甚少的是与dACC相连的神经网络，以及在需要认知灵活性的各种条件下这些神经网络如何变化或保持稳定。该研究计划的目的是指定dACC在一系列需要认知灵活性的情况下的共同作用，并绘制出其神经连接。鉴于dACC被认为与转换行为、改变信念以及保持自我和他人反思之间的平衡有关，因此更好地了解这个大脑区域的功能及其连接对于理解人类行为至关重要。这项研究对治疗也有明确的意义;例如，信念形成和自我监控在某些临床人群中受损，如精神分裂症和自闭症。

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.