FIGURE 1.

Schematic illustration of cortical areas involved in effort costs computation. The supplementary motor area is involved in computation of motor costs, the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex in executive control costs, and the anterior insula in risk- and pain-related costs. These three regions are interconnected to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) through glutamatergic (Glu) pathways. The red arrows represent the cost signals sent by these cortical areas to the ACC that integrates costs and benefits signals and makes decisions on how much effort deploying to achieve the task goal. The black arrows represent the control signal sent by the ACC to the brain areas computing the cost signals to enhance their capacity of processing.