Research on Routine Actions in the Brain

Most actions that we produce during the course of the day are routine or automatic; they make little or no demand on our conscious attention. However, these routine actions are essential for our ability to function day to day (Chapman, 1991). Control of these well-practiced actions appears to be located primarily in the more posterior areas of the frontal lobes (Karni et al., 1998; Petersen, van Mier, Fiez, & Raichle, 1998; Posner & Raichle, 1994). There is some evidence that prefrontal regions are involved in monitoring routine actions for errors. Patients with prefrontal lesions have demonstrated a variety of difficulties, including perseverating on one action (that is, repeating it), leaving out steps or changing the sequence of actions, and difficulty suppressing incorrect responses (Burgess & Shallice, 1996; Cooper & Shallice, 1997).

The development of routine actions requires extensive practice to make them automatic. When this is achieved, the anterior frontal regions of the brain are involved only in monitoring for errors, not in the actual execution of the action.