The Neuroanatomy and Neurochemistry of Response Inhibition

To understand daily life behaviour, it is important to understand what underlying neuroanatomical brain structures and networks are involved. In more general terms, in order to understand brain function, it is important to study brain structure. This chapter focuses on the commonly used inhibition and interference tasks used in the cognitive neurosciences. Human neurocognitive studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have revealed a common number of activated foci in the brain using a number of response inhibition tasks. It is clear that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is crucial for planning of complex cognitive behaviour, including decision making and inhibition. The function of the PFC is largely related to its involvement in executive control. The chapter highlights the anatomo‐functional make‐up of several cortical and subcortical brain regions and networks in humans and non‐human primates as well as rodents.