Recent advances in understanding neural systems that support inhibitory control

•Right lateral prefrontal cortex plays an important role in inhibitory control.•Recent advances suggest that rIFG may not just be involved in motoric inhibition.•Rather rIFG may integrate contextual information with potential goals.•Whether inhibitory control uses a central neural system remains unclear.•Alternatively, such systems may vary by domain - motoric, cognitive, emotional.

Although it is agreed that the right lateral prefrontal cortex plays a prominent role in inhibitory control, the exact psychological processes it implements remain unclear, as do the precise neural substrates of such control. Recently debated is the issue of whether the right inferior cortex is specifically involved in inhibition of action, or whether this region monitors the environmental context to provide information as to which goals are attainable under current conditions. Another issue of debate is whether there is a common neural substrate for inhibitory control or whether different neural systems are involved in inhibitory control in different domains - motoric, cognitive, and emotional. The present review examines the current state of thought on these two important issues.