Hot & cold EFs: A prefrontal-cingular network Review Hot and cold executive functions in the brain: A prefrontal- cingular network Mohammad Ali Salehinejad 1*, Elham Ghanavati 1,2 Md Harun Ar Rashid 1, and Michael A. Nitsche 1,3, 1 Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany 2 Department of Neuropsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany 3 Department of Neurology, University Medical Hospital Bergmannsheil, Bochum, Germany * Correspondence:
[email protected] This is a preprint of a manuscript that has been accepted for open access publication in Brain & Neuroscience Advances. The final version of the manuscript will be accessible from the Peer- reviewed Publication DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/23982128211007769 Abstract Executive functions (EFs), or cognitive control, are higher-order cognitive functions needed for adaptive goal-directed behaviours and are significantly impaired in majority of neuropsychiatric disorders. Different models and approaches are proposed for describing how EFs are functionally organized in the brain. One popular and recently proposed organizing principle of EFs is the distinction between hot (i.e., reward or affective-related) vs cold (i.e., purely cognitive) domains of EFs. The prefrontal cortex is traditionally linked to EFs, but on the other hand, anterior and posterior cingulate cortices are hugely involved in EFs as well. In this review, we first define EFs, their domains, and the appropriate methods for studying them. Second, we discuss how hot and cold EFs are linked to different areas of the prefrontal cortex. Next, we discuss the association of hot vs cold EFs with the cingulate cortex, focusing on the anterior and posterior compartments.