Abstract
Sato and Ohira (2001) proposed that executive functions of the prefrontal cortex can be dissociated into two parallel systems, one of which is "the ventromedial system" and the other of which is "the dorsolateral system".
The ventromedial system including a rostral and ventral part of the anterior cingulate cortex, the amygdala and the orbitofrontal cortex serves to monitor the motivational value of the response and to rapidly readjust response selection whenever the contingencies among stimulus, response and their consequence change. The dorsolateral system including a dorsal part of the anterior cingulate cortex, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the premotor and supplementary motor areas, by contrast, serves to detect the occurrence of conflicts in information processing and to exert top-down attentional control on information processing. This paper reviews the recent functional neuroimaging studies on emotional regulation and proposes that the ventromedial system is involved in the resolution of conflicts between competing values and the dorsolateral system is involved in top-down modulation of their subsystems by active maintenance of internal representation.
