Bilateral cingulotomy
Studies in patients that were a subject to bilateral cingulotomy, that involved fMRI analyses, showed that the anterior cingulate cortex has a key role in cognitive control and is highly likely to be involved in the control of attentional response, whereas the dorsal part of that region of the brain was not identified to be involved in such a process, although this is still under dispute. The function of the dorsal part of the cingulate cortex was connected to the sorting out and processing of conflicting information signals. In addition, neuroimaging studies also indicated that the anterior cingulate cortex participates in the modulation of cortical regions that are of higher order as well as sensory processing areas.
Posterior cingulate cortex
The posterior cingulate cortex has also been firmly linked to emotional salience. Thus, it has been hypothesized that the emotional importance of autobiographical memories may contribute to the strength and consistency of activity in the posterior cingulate cortex upon successful recollection of these memories. The posterior cingulate cortex is significantly bilaterally activated by emotional stimuli, independent of valence (positive or negative). This is in contrast to other structures in the limbic system, such as the amygdala, which responded disproportionately to negative stimuli, or the left frontal pole, which activated only in response to positive stimuli. These results support the hypothesis that the posterior cingulate cortex mediates interactions between emotion and memory.