Inhibitory control
cognitive process that permits an individual to inhibit impulses and behavioral responses to stimuli in order to select a more appropriate behavior that is consistent with achieving goals
Inhibitory control, also known as response inhibition, is a cognitive process – and, more specifically, an executive function – that permits an individual to inhibit their impulses and natural, habitual, or dominant behavioral responses to stimuli (a.k.a. prepotent responses) in order to select a more appropriate behavior that is consistent with completing their goals. Self-control is an important aspect of inhibitory control. For example, successfully suppressing the natural behavioral response to eat cake when one is craving it while dieting requires the use of inhibitory control.
The prefrontal cortex, caudate nucleus, and subthalamic nucleus are known to regulate inhibitory control cognition. Inhibitory control is impaired in both addiction and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In healthy adults and ADHD individuals, inhibitory control improves over the short term with low (therapeutic) doses of methylphenidate or amphetamine. Inhibitory control may also be improved over the long-term via consistent aerobic exercise.
Neurophysiology
Cortical areas of the brain are frequently involved in inhibitory control. In the frontal lobe, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the right ventral prefrontal cortex show high levels of activity during inhibitory control tests.
The public source identifies “Inhibitory control” as cognitive process that permits an individual to inhibit impulses and behavioral responses to stimuli in order to select a more appropriate behavior that is consistent with achieving goals. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Inhibitory, control and cognitive.
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This entry incorporates text from “Inhibitory control” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.