Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation in Anterior Cingulate Cortex Impairs Information Sampling and Learning in Loss Contexts

Neural activity in anterior cingulate cortex and the anterior striatum predicts which visual objects are sampled and how likely objects are paired with positive or aversive outcomes. We causally tested whether these neural signals contribute to behavioral flexibility. Disrupting with transcranial ultrasound the ACC, but not striatum, prolonged information sampling when attentional demands were high, impaired flexible learning, and reduced the ability to avoid losses. These results support a role of the ACC in guiding attention and information sampling to overcome motivational conflict during adaptive behaviors.