A functional network perspective on response inhibition and attentional control

Inferior frontal cortex (IFC) modules that inhibit dominant behaviours are a popular feature in theories of cognitive dysfunction. However, the paradigms on which these theories are based fail to distinguish between inhibitory and non-inhibitory cognitive demands. Here we use four novel fMRI variants of the classic stop-signal task to test whether the IFC houses unique inhibitory modules. Our results demonstrate that IFC sub-regions are not functionally unique in their sensitivities to inhibitory cognitive demands, but instead form components of spatially distributed networks. These networks are most strongly activated when infrequent stimuli are being processed, regardless of behavioural inhibitory demands, and when novel tasks are being acquired, as opposed to when routine responses must be suppressed. We propose that there are no inhibitory modules within the frontal lobes and that behavioural inhibition is an emergent property of spatially distributed functional networks, each of which supports a broader class of cognitive demands. The right inferior frontal cortex has long been thought to house a neural module that inhibits dominant behaviours. Using brain imaging, Erika-Florence et al.demonstrate that this inhibition is in fact an emergent property of multiple neural networks that support broader classes of cognitive processes.