Schedule of Events | Search Abstracts | Invited Symposia | Symposia | Poster Sessions | Data Blitz

Sketchpad Series 

fMRI studies of proactive and reactive cognitive control: An Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) meta-analysis

Poster Session B - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 8:00 – 10:00 am PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Vina Goghari¹ (vina.goghari@utoronto.ca), Mavis Kusi¹; ¹University of Toronto

Rationale: The dual mechanisms of control (DMC) theory posits that cognitive control has two modes, proactive and reactive control. Proactive control is an "early selection" mechanism whereby goal-relevant information is maintained in anticipation of conflict. In contrast, reactive control is a late correction mechanism whereby control processes are transiently activated after event onset. Proactive control has been associated with sustained activation of the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC), while reactive control has been linked with transient activation of the lPFC along with activations in other brain regions. This review and meta-analysis aimed to test the assumptions of the DMC theory. Methods: This study followed the PRISMA reporting guidelines. Activation coordinates were analyzed using activation likelihood estimation (ALE). Results: lPFC regions consistently activated for proactive and reactive control. Proactive control was also linked with activations in the cingulate gyrus and inferior parietal lobule. Reactive control was linked with activations in the insula, cingulate gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, and inferior parietal lobule. Conclusions: Proactive control was associated with activations in a wider set of brain regions than predicted by the DMC theory. Conceptualization of brain regions important for proactive control might need to go beyond the lPFC.

Topic Area: EXECUTIVE PROCESSES: Goal maintenance & switching