Abstract

Executive functions, or cognitive control, are higher-order cognitive functions needed for adaptive goal-directed behaviours and are significantly impaired in majority of neuropsychiatric disorders. Different models and approaches are proposed for describing how executive functions are functionally organised in the brain. One popular and recently proposed organising principle of executive functions is the distinction between hot (i.e. reward or affective-related) versus cold (i.e. purely cognitive) domains of executive functions. The prefrontal cortex is traditionally linked to executive functions, but on the other hand, anterior and posterior cingulate cortices are hugely involved in executive functions as well. In this review, we first define executive functions, their domains, and the appropriate methods for studying them. Second, we discuss how hot and cold executive functions are linked to different areas of the prefrontal cortex. Next, we discuss the association of hot versus cold executive functions with the cingulate cortex, focusing on the anterior and posterior compartments. Finally, we propose a functional model for hot and cold executive function organisation in the brain with a specific focus on the fronto-cingular network. We also discuss clinical implications of hot versus cold cognition in major neuropsychiatric disorders (depression, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, substance use disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism) and attempt to characterise their profile according to the functional dominance or manifest of hot–cold cognition. Our model proposes that the lateral prefrontal cortex along with the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex are more relevant for cold executive functions, while the medial–orbital prefrontal cortex along with the ventral anterior cingulate cortex, and the posterior cingulate cortex are more closely involved in hot executive functions. This functional distinction, however, is not absolute and depends on several factors including task features, context, and the extent to which the measured function relies on cognition and emotion or both.

Highlights

  • Executive functions and their domainsExecutive functions (EFs), called cognitive control, refer to a family to top-down cognitive processes required for goaldirected behaviours (Diamond, 2013; Miller and Cohen, 2001)

  • We provide evidence from neuroimaging and brain stimulation studies (i.e. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)) about the relation of hot versus cold Executive functions and their domainsExecutive functions (EFs) to different prefrontal cortex (PFC) areas

  • We present evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and brain stimulation studies about how hot and cold EFs are linked to the cingulate cortex with a primary focus on the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)

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Summary

Introduction

Executive functions (EFs), called cognitive control, refer to a family to top-down cognitive processes required for goaldirected behaviours (Diamond, 2013; Miller and Cohen, 2001). Early works attempted to describe EFs in terms of certain kinds of information processing associated with specific behavioural tasks These processes can be summarised in (1) task-setting and problem-solving abilities, (2) response inhibition abilities, (3) task switching abilities, and (4) multitasking (Ward, 2020). The hot–cold organising principle of EFs has been most often linked to the PFC (as shown in Figure 1), here we attempt to broaden this principle to cingulate areas as well, due to their significant involvement in executive and cognitive control functions It is, notable that EFs and especially hot EFs are closely related to subcortical areas involved in emotional processing, including the amygdala, insula, striatum (including putamen, caudate, and nucleus accumbens) hippocampus, and brainstem (Ardila, 2019; Heyder et al, 2004; Pessoa, 2009).

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Declaration of conflicting interests

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