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Abstract:
Abstract: The ability monitor one's own performance and
adjust it according to feedback as to behavioral outcome lies at
the heart of the highest levels of human cognition, such as problem
solving and complex decision making. This process involves many
levels of processing, from simple environmental cues, to internal
influences such as the motivational value of the outcome being
sought, and emotional responses to the current level of
performance. Drugs of abuse may have a direct influence on the
neuronal networks that underlie self-regulation. Functional
neuroimaging and network modeling studies will be used to develop a
novel theory regarding the neural mechanisms underlying
self-regulation of behavior and its modulation by
neurotransmitters. This theory postulates that the Anterior
Cingulate (and its dopaminergic inputs) monitors the state of
processing whereas the noradrenergic inputs to the prefrontal
cortex modulate the balance between continued investment in the
current behavior and sampling of other task sets.
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