Anterior cingulate cortex

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), formerlypreviously known as the precingulate,is a region of the brain surrounding the anterior corpus collosumcallosum. It is involved within the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex.

Summary

• Itlocation: it is located superior to the anterior corpus callosum, more specifically Brodmann's areas 24, 25, 32, 33.
• It is involved in emotional regulation and is thus implicated in various psychiatric and substance abuse disorders.
• Itblood supply: it receives its vascular supply from the pericolossalpericallosal artery (a branch
• relations: anterior part of the ACA).cingulate gyrus, involved in the limbic system and prefrontal cortex

Gross anatomy

Location

The ACCanterior cingulate cortex forms the anterior part of the cingulate gyrus. It involves Brodmann's areas 24, 25, 32 and 33. The dorsal aspect of the ACCanterior cingulate cortex has been separated and is now referred to as the middle cingulate cortex (MCC). It is predominantly located in the frontal lobe.

Relations

The ACCanterior cingulate cortex is known to have extensive connections with the amygdala, the lateral hypothalamus and brainstem nuclei, hippocampal centres, orbitofrontal cortex and the ventral striatum.

Functions

The functions of the ACCanterior cingulate cortex are only starting to be studied extensively due to it'sits involvement in various mental health illnesses. The ACCanterior cingulate cortex is involved in emotional regulation, emotion based-based learning, discerning the impact of pain on emotion (via the amygdala), autonomic regulation (via the brainstem nuclei), memory (via the hippocampus) and the reward pathway (via the orbitofrontal cortex).

The activation of ACCanterior cingulate cortex leads to a suppression of the limbic-system response leading to better emotional regulation.

Reduced activation of the ACCanterior cingulate cortex leads to poor emotional regulation, as observed in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), where there is an increased stress response to a previously traumatic memory or trigger. This is in contrast to social anxiety, there the region shows increased activation.

Patients with depression and schizophrenia also demonstrate low activity of the ACCanterior cingulate cortex, leading to a blunted affect ¹.

Blood supply

The ACCanterior cingulate cortex, being part of the cingulate gyrus is supplied by the pericallosal arteries, which are branches of the anterior cerebral artery².

Related pathology

• schizophrenia
• major depressive disorder