Action Initiation in the Human Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Lakshminarayan Srinivasan, Wael F. Asaad, Daniel T. Ginat, John T. Gale, Darin D. Dougherty, Ziv M. Williams, Terrence J. Sejnowski, Emad N. Eskandar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) has previously been implicated in processes that influence action initiation. In humans however, there has been little direct evidence connecting dACC to the temporal onset of actions. We studied reactive behavior in patients undergoing therapeutic bilateral cingulotomy to determine the immediate effects of dACC ablation on action initiation. In a simple reaction task, three patients were instructed to respond to a specific visual cue with the movement of a joystick. Within minutes of dACC ablation, the frequency of false starts increased, where movements occurred prior to presentation of the visual cue. In a decision making task with three separate patients, the ablation effect on action initiation persisted even when action selection was intact. These findings suggest that human dACC influences action initiation, apart from its role in action selection.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere55247
JournalPloS one
Volume8
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 27 2013
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
  • General

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