Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Normal humans become upset when they make a mistake. Psychologists call the phenomenon "cognitive dissonance". The ACC appears to provide at least part of the answer for the physiological response.

"The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) .... appears to play a role in a wide variety of autonomic functions, such as regulating blood pressure and heart rate. It is also involved in rational cognitive functions, such as reward anticipation, decision-making, empathy, impulse control, and emotion."

Wikipedia article. 

Anteriorcingulate cortex regulation of sympathetic activity:

"In the 1940s and 1950s, evidence accumulated from animal as well as human studies of the ACC .... demonstrated the involvement of the cingulate cortex in motor and autonomic control."

" .... patients with ACC lesions do demonstrate performance deficits on the Stroop task
and other tasks that have been shown to activate the ACC."

"Perhaps the most consistent observation regarding changes associated with lesion of the ACC is with regard to affect. These patients have been described as apathetic and unconcerned when significant events occur, such as making mistakes."

Brain Volume 126, Issue 10 Pp. 2119-2120.


Online Stroop Test [caution, I haven't checked whether the site is an email-fishing con]