Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27669989›Full record

ArticleNature neuroscience2016

Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the value of control.

Amitai Shenhav, Jonathan D Cohen, Matthew M Botvinick

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Nature neuroscience, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 292 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
292citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

292 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  16. Contributions of the basolateral amygdala and nucleus accumbens to sustaining not just initiating cognitive effort.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
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232 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Amitai ShenhavPrinceton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
Jonathan D CohenPrinceton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.
Matthew M BotvinickPrinceton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Debates over the function(s) of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) have persisted for decades. So too have demonstrations of the region's association with cognitive control. Researchers have struggled to account for this association and, simultaneously, dACC's involvement in phenomena related to evaluation and motivation. We describe a recent integrative theory that achieves this goal. It proposes that dACC serves to specify the currently optimal allocation of control by determining the overall expected value of control (EVC), thereby licensing the associated cognitive effort. The EVC theory accounts for dACC's sensitivity to a wide array of experimental variables, and their relationship to subsequent control adjustments. Finally, we contrast our theory with a recent theory proposing a primary role for dACC in foraging-like decisions. We describe why the EVC theory offers a more comprehensive and coherent account of dACC function, including dACC's particular involvement in decisions regarding foraging or otherwise altering one's behavior.

Indexed as

Psychological TheoryAnimalsCognitionDecision MakingGyrus CinguliHumansMotivation

Identifiers

PMID27669989

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.