title: Feature uncertainty activates anterior cingulate cortex.
abstract: In visual discrimination tasks, the relevant feature to discriminate is defined before stimulus presentation. In feature uncertainty tasks, a cue about the relevant feature is provided after stimulus offset. We used (15)O-butanol positron emission tomography (PET) in order to investigate brain activation during a feature uncertainty task. There was greater activity during the feature uncertainty task, compared with stimulus detection and discrimination of orientation and spatial frequency, in the lateral and medial prefrontal cortex, the cuneus, superior temporal and inferior parietal cortex, cortical motor areas, and the cerebellum. The most robust and consistent activation was observed in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (Brodmann area 32; x = 0 y = 16, z = 40). The insula, located near the claustrum (x = -38, y = 8, z = 4), was activated during the discrimination tasks compared with the feature uncertainty condition. These results suggest that the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex is important in feature uncertainty conditions, which include divided attention, expectancy under uncertainty, and cognitive monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Szabolcs
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kéri
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Decety
authors.forename: Per E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Roland
authors.forename: Balázs
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gulyás
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D035501:Uncertainty; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*