Neural Mechanisms of Adaptive Control in the Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex Across Negative Affect, Cognitive Control and Somatic Pain
Abstract
Recent theoretical frameworks propose that adaptive control — the process by which
individuals evaluate choices under uncertainty and voluntarily adjust behaviour to
minimize potential harm and error — underpins anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC)
engagement across emotion, cognition and pain. However, empirical evidence remains
limited.
Using data from 23 healthy adults who underwent functional Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (fMRI) while performing tasks probing negative affect, cognitive control and
somatic pain, the present study tests aMCC activations and task-based connectivity
patterns against specific predictions derived from the adaptive control hypothesis.
Activation and connectivity analyses consistently supported adaptive control as an
account of aMCC function. Cross-fitted three-layer dynamic causal modelling (DCM)
revealed forward information flow from domain-specific inputs to the aMCC and higher-
order regions in selected models for all tasks.
These findings provide converging evidence for adaptive control as a unifying
mechanism underlying aMCC engagement across emotion, cognition and pain,
underscoring the value of network-level approaches in elucidating domain-general brain
functions.