Distinct roles of anterior cingulate and subcortical regions supporting effort evaluation versus preparation.
- 1Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
- 2Research Centre for Brain and Behaviour, School of Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
- 3Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Abstract
Cognitive effort encompasses the mental exertion invested to achieve a goal as well as the experienced cost associated with that exertion. The dopaminergic midbrain regions (i.e., ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra), ventral striatum, and anterior cingulate cortex have all been broadly implicated in effort regulation. However, less is known about the role of these regions in dissociable subprocesses such as effort evaluation versus effort preparation. In this preregistered functional MRI study with concurrent pupil tracking, we disentangled the evaluation and preparation phase of reward- and effort-based motivation. In the evaluation phase, the typical valuation regions encoded high-reward and low-effort demand as motivational factors. In the preparation phase, the anterior cingulate cortex displayed increased activity for demanding high-reward trials. The dopaminergic midbrain exhibited a positive reward effect only during task execution. The results suggest that when separating evaluation from preparation, regions traditionally thought of as primarily reward attuned respond to high reward and low effort during evaluation but can assign a motivating signal to effort during preparation, while the anterior cingulate cortex integrates effort and reward prospect to subserve only preparatory control processes.
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BibTeX
@article{kukkonen2026distinct,
title = {{Distinct roles of anterior cingulate and subcortical regions supporting effort evaluation versus preparation.}},
author = {Nanne Kukkonen and Senne Braem and Joshua O Eayrs and Mengqiao Chai and Stefania Mattioni and S Tabitha Steendam and C Nico Boehler and Jan R Wiersema and Wim Notebaert and Ruth M Krebs},
journal = {Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1162/imag.a.1417},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42974049},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Distinct roles of anterior cingulate and subcortical regions supporting effort evaluation versus preparation.
AU - Nanne Kukkonen
AU - Senne Braem
AU - Joshua O Eayrs
AU - Mengqiao Chai
AU - Stefania Mattioni
AU - S Tabitha Steendam
AU - C Nico Boehler
AU - Jan R Wiersema
AU - Wim Notebaert
AU - Ruth M Krebs
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)
DO - 10.1162/imag.a.1417
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42974049
AB - Cognitive effort encompasses the mental exertion invested to achieve a goal as well as the experienced cost associated with that exertion. The dopaminergic midbrain regions (i.e., ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra), ventral striatum, and anterior cingulate cortex have all been broadly implicated in effort regulation. However, less is known about the role of these regions in dissociable subprocesses such as effort evaluation versus effort preparation. In this preregistered functional MRI study with concurrent pupil tracking, we disentangled the evaluation and preparation phase of reward- and effort-based motivation. In the evaluation phase, the typical valuation regions encoded high-reward and low-effort demand as motivational factors. In the preparation phase, the anterior cingulate cortex displayed increased activity for demanding high-reward trials. The dopaminergic midbrain exhibited a positive reward effect only during task execution. The results suggest that when separating evaluation from preparation, regions traditionally thought of as primarily reward attuned respond to high reward and low effort during evaluation but can assign a motivating signal to effort during preparation, while the anterior cingulate cortex integrates effort and reward prospect to subserve only preparatory control processes.
SN - 2837-6056
ER -