Activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) is observed across a variety of contexts, and its function remains intensely debated in the field of cognitive neuroscience. While traditional views emphasize its role in inhibitory control (suppressing prepotent, incorrect actions), recent proposals suggest a more active role in motivated control (invigorating actions to obtain rewards). Lagging behind empirical findings, formal models of dACC function primarily focus on inhibitory control, highlighting surprise, choice difficulty and value of control as key computations. Although successful in explaining dACC involvement in inhibitory control, it remains unclear whether these mechanisms generalize to motivated control. In this study, we derive predictions from three prominent accounts of dACC and test these with functional magnetic resonance imaging during value-based decision-making under time pressure. We find that the single mechanism of surprise best accounts for activity in dACC during a task requiring response invigoration, suggesting surprise signalling as a shared driver of inhibitory and motivated control.

背侧前扣带皮层 (dACC) 的活动在各种情况下都可以观察到，其功能在认知神经科学领域仍然存在激烈的争论。虽然传统观点强调其在抑制性控制中的作用（抑制强权、不正确的行为），但最近的提议表明它在动机控制中的作用更为积极（激发行动以获得奖励）。落后于实证结果，dACC 功能的正式模型主要侧重于抑制控制，强调惊喜、选择困难和控制价值作为关键计算。尽管成功地解释了 dACC 参与抑制控制，但这些机制是否适用于动机控制仍不清楚。在这项研究中，我们从 dACC 的三个著名帐户中得出预测，并在时间压力下基于价值的决策过程中使用功能性磁共振成像对其进行测试。我们发现，在需要激发反应的任务期间，惊喜的单一机制最能解释 dACC 的活动，这表明惊喜信号是抑制和动机控制的共同驱动因素。