SynthesisCognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience2012
Meta-analytic evidence for a superordinate cognitive control network subserving diverse executive functions.
Synthesis in Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 817 papers, 12 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
817 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Striato-limbic and frontoparietal dysfunction underlying imbalance of reward-motivation and cognitive control in compulsive sexual behaviour disorder: A neuroimaging meta-analysis.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2026Pooled it
- Non-invasive brain stimulation for treating cognitive and neuropsychiatric non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease and atypical parkinsonism: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026Pooled it
- Executive functioning in adolescents with internalizing disorders: a systematic review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Functional Connectivity Disruptions in Grey Matter Volume-Altered Brain Regions Among Male Smokers: A Neuroimaging Study.Addiction biology · 2025Pooled it
- A bias-accounting meta-analytic approach refines and expands the cerebellar behavioral topography.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Neuroimaging insights into the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review.Translational psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Attention and executive delays in early childhood: a meta-analysis of neurodevelopmental conditions.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Mapping common and distinct brain correlates among cognitive flexibility tasks: concordant evidence from meta-analyses.Brain imaging and behavior · 2025Pooled it
- Intraoperative mapping and preservation of executive functions in awake craniotomy: a systematic review.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024Pooled it
- Cognitive Effects Following Offline High-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (HF-rTMS) in Healthy Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuropsychology review · 2024Pooled it
- The effect of task complexity on the neural network for response inhibition: An ALE meta-analysis.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Neural underpinnings of response inhibition in substance use disorders: weak meta-analytic evidence for a widely used construct.Psychopharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Acute Effect of Exercise with and without Cooperative Activities on Emotion Recognition in Preadolescent Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Medicine and science in sports and exercise · 2026Trial
- The effects of transcranial random noise stimulation on excitation/inhibition balance in ADHD.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2026Trial
- Transcranial direct current stimulation combined with caffeine promotes executive function in healthy females.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2025Trial
- Effects of Paprika Xanthophyll Intake on Endurance and Cognitive Function in College Students: A Crossover Randomized Controlled Trial.Nutrients · 2025Trial
- Psilocybin-assisted neurofeedback for the improvement of executive functions: a randomized semi-naturalistic-lab feasibility study.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024Trial
- Acute effects of different types of cannabis on young adult and adolescent resting-state brain networks.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Trial
- The Role of Glymphatic Clearance in Affective Decision-Making in Adolescents with Non-Suicidal Self-Injury.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Article
- Physical Activity and Adolescent Brain Structure, Mental Health, and Academic Outcomes.JAMA network open · 2026Article
757 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Classic cognitive theory conceptualizes executive functions as involving multiple specific domains, including initiation, inhibition, working memory, flexibility, planning, and vigilance. Lesion and neuroimaging experiments over the past two decades have suggested that both common and unique processes contribute to executive functions during higher cognition. It has been suggested that a superordinate fronto-cingulo-parietal network supporting cognitive control may also underlie a range of distinct executive functions. To test this hypothesis in the largest sample to date, we used quantitative meta-analytic methods to analyze 193 functional neuroimaging studies of 2,832 healthy individuals, ages 18-60, in which performance on executive function measures was contrasted with an active control condition. A common pattern of activation was observed in the prefrontal, dorsal anterior cingulate, and parietal cortices across executive function domains, supporting the idea that executive functions are supported by a superordinate cognitive control network. However, domain-specific analyses showed some variation in the recruitment of anterior prefrontal cortex, anterior and midcingulate regions, and unique subcortical regions such as the basal ganglia and cerebellum. These results are consistent with the existence of a superordinate cognitive control network in the brain, involving dorsolateral prefrontal, anterior cingulate, and parietal cortices, that supports a broad range of executive functions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.