A model of proactive and reactive cognitive control with anterior cingulate cortex and the neuromodulatory system

Proactive and reactive cognitive control are often associated with anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). How ACC affects processing in other brain areas, however, is often not explicitly delineated. In this work, we describe a model of how ACC computes measures of conflict and surprise that are in turn relayed to the basal forebrain (BF) and locus coeruleus (LC) in that order. BF and LC signals then respectively sharpen posterior cortical processing and trigger the reframing of prefrontal cortical decision-making frames. We implemented this theory in a large-scale neurocognitive model that performs simulated geospatial intelligence tasks. Experiments demonstrate improved performance while minimizing additional processing. Alternate interpretations of neuromodulatory signals are also discussed.