Above we report results suggesting that unilateral ACC lesions do not impair conflict adaptation at the level of behavior; that is, after ACC lesions, rats were still more accurate on sS trials compared to gS trials. However, unilateral lesions may have altered processing in the DMS without impacting overall behavior, suggesting that the ACC contributes to this function even in the absence of a behavioral effect, perhaps due to redundancy in the system and/or intact ACC processing in the other hemisphere. Theoretically, conflict adaptation can arise from mechanisms by which the brain is better equipped to reshape behavior in response to the second cue light and/or mechanisms that reduce automatic prepotent tendencies to follow the first cue light, thus making it easier to inhibit and redirect behavior. In controls, average neural firing in DMS suggests that both are engaged to a degree.
