Midcingulate Motor Map and Feedback Detection: Converging Data from Humans and Monkeys

The functional and anatomical organization of the cingulate cortex across primate species is the subject of considerable and often con-fusing debate. The functions attributed to the midcingulate cortex (MCC) embrace, among others, feedback processing, pain, salience, action-reward association, premotor functions, and conflict monitor-ing. This multiplicity of functional concepts suggests either unre-solved separation of functional contributions or integration and convergence. We here provide evidence from recent experiments in humans and from a meta-analysis of monkey data that MCC feed-back-related activity is generated in the rostral cingulate premotor area by specific body maps directly related to the modality of feed-back. As such, we argue for an embodied mechanism for adaptation and exploration in MCC. We propose arguments and precise tools to resolve the origins of performance monitoring signals in the medial frontal cortex, and to progress on issues regarding homology between human and nonhuman primate cingulate cortex