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Neurocognitive mechanisms of action control: resisting the call of the Sirens
Author(s) -
Richard Ridderinkhof K.,
Forstmann Birte U.,
Wylie Scott A.,
Burle Borís,
van den Wildenberg Wery P. M.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: cognitive science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.526
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1939-5086
pISSN - 1939-5078
DOI - 10.1002/wcs.99
Subject(s) - affordance , neurocognitive , action selection , psychology , neuroscience , action (physics) , cognitive psychology , cognitive science , selection (genetic algorithm) , cognition , computer science , artificial intelligence , physics , quantum mechanics , perception
An essential facet of adaptive and versatile behavior is the ability to prioritize actions in response to dynamically changing circumstances. The field of potential actions afforded by a situation is shaped by many factors, such as environmental demands, past experiences, and prepotent tendencies. Selection among action affordances can be driven by deliberate, intentional processes as a product of goal‐directed behavior and by extraneous stimulus–action associations as established inherently or through learning. We first review the neurocognitive mechanisms putatively linked to these intention‐driven and association‐driven routes of action selection. Next, we review the neurocognitive mechanisms engaged to inhibit action affordances that are no longer relevant or that interfere with goal‐directed action selection. Optimal action control is viewed as a dynamic interplay between selection and suppression mechanisms, which is achieved by an elaborate circuitry of interconnected cortical regions (most prominently the pre‐supplementary motor area and the right inferior frontal cortex) and basal ganglia structures (most prominently the dorsal striatum and the subthalamic nucleus). WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 174–192 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.99 This article is categorized under: Psychology > Attention Neuroscience > Cognition