Accordingly, most theories have tended to ascribe to dACC selleck chemicals llc a role in either task selection (identity specification) or modulation of control (intensity specification). The EVC model integrates these accounts, proposing that they refer to different dimensions of the same function. Accordingly, dACC should be responsive to circumstances that engage either or both. In the two sections that follow, we review the literature concerning the association of dACC with each of these two

dimensions of control specification. Among the earliest theories of dACC function were ones that proposed a role in action selection (Devinsky et al., 1995, Matsumoto et al., 2003, Rangel and Hare, 2010, Rushworth et al., 2007 and Rushworth et al., 2004). More recent theories have elaborated this idea to include task selection (Holroyd and Yeung, 2012, Kouneiher et al., 2009 and O’Reilly, 2010). These are commensurate with the role of dACC in the specification of control signal identity proposed by the EVC model. Some evidence for this comes from studies showing dACC selectivity

for different control signal identities, including rules and task sets. However, the EVC model also requires selleck compound that control signals be specified based on their expected value. This predicts that the dACC should exhibit responses that are both selective for a particular line of behavior and sensitive to the value of outcomes associated with that behavior. This prediction is consistent with the findings of several recent studies. For example, when monkeys were required to choose between targets in a visual saccade task, overlapping populations of dACC neurons were found to encode the value and direction of the saccade chosen on a given trial (Cai and Padoa-Schioppa, 2012 and Hayden and Platt, 2010). Kaping and colleagues (2011) demonstrated similar effects in a task involving

covert shifts of visual attention, rather than explicit eye movements. In their study, a colored fixation cue at the start of each trial indicated which of two subsequently presented colored visual stimuli should be attended. The monkeys were then rewarded if they correctly reported whether the stimulus with the corresponding color rotated clockwise Cediranib (AZD2171) or counterclockwise. The amount of reward earned by a correct response was signaled by the color of the initial fixation cue. As in previous studies, overlapping neuronal populations in rostral dACC were found to encode the target of the attentional shifts and the value of those targets, independently of any overt saccade used to report movement direction. These findings are consistent with a role for dACC in specifying control signal identity based on its expected value. However, an alternative interpretation is possible: they could instead reflect the state and/or outcome monitoring functions of dACC without reflecting a role in specification.