Electrophysiological measurements of anterior cingulate function

J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2002 May;109(5-6):977-88. doi: 10.1007/s007020200080.

Abstract

Based on recent findings from various areas of brain research the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) within the prefrontal cortex is increasingly considered as a brain region activated during tasks requiring conflict-monitoring and allocation of attention. In the present study with event-related potentials (ERPs) the question has been addressed, whether the NoGo-condition of the Continuous Performance Test is associated with enough conflict-monitoring and allocation of attention in order to activate the ACC in healthy controls. Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography (LORETA), a new three-dimensional source localization method, revealed significantly increased brain electrical activity during the NoGo-ERP as compared to the Go-ERP with its maximum located exactly within the ACC in four independent samples of healthy subjects. These results relate the conflict-monitoring requirements associated with inhibition of a prepared motor response (NoGo-condition) to a powerful brain electrical ACC-activity. This non-invasive, easy to perform and inexpensive electrophysiological measurement, therefore, provides a new method for the assessment of ACC-function in healthy subjects.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Brain Mapping
  • Differential Threshold
  • Electromagnetic Phenomena
  • Electrophysiology
  • Evoked Potentials
  • Female
  • Gyrus Cinguli / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Reaction Time
  • Reference Values