title: The emotive nature of conflict monitoring in the medial prefrontal cortex.
abstract: The detection of conflict between incompatible impulses, thoughts, and actions is a ubiquitous source of motivation across theories of goal-directed action. In this overview, we explore the hypothesis that conflict is emotive, integrating perspectives from affective science and cognitive neuroscience. Initially, we review evidence suggesting that the mental and biological processes that monitor for information processing conflict-particularly those generated by the anterior midcingulate cortex-track the affective significance of conflict and use this signal to motivate increased control. In this sense, variation in control resembles a form of affect regulation in which control implementation counteracts the aversive experience of conflict. We also highlight emerging evidence proposing that states and dispositions associated with acceptance facilitate control by tuning individuals to the emotive nature of conflict, before proposing avenues for future research, including investigating the role of affect in reinforcement learning and decision making.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. Electronic address: blairsaunders01@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Blair
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Hause
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Milyavskaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Rotman School of Management, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inzlicht
mesh_terms: D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Cognitive control; Emotion; Event-related potentials; Medial prefrontal cortex; Motivation; Negative affect