Inhibition Multidimensional Model in Emotional Contexts

Introduction

The concept of inhibition is firmly ingrained in our language and thought, even in our daily lives, because the idea that impulses, thoughts, and actions can be controlled is familiar. From a medical point of view, inhibition refers to the temporary suspension of a function or activity of the organism through the action of an adequate stimulus; In a broad sense, to inhibit means to refrain and/or stop acting. In physiology, inhibition describes the prohibition of a specific physiological or motor response, such as muscle movement, or the ability to stop an effect (e.g., neurotransmitter or hormone). Specifically, according to the Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology (Kreutzer, DeLuca, & Caplan, 2011), inhibition refers to the blocking of action, thought, or process. Thus, the concept of inhibition can be used to describe a conscious or unconscious limitation or restriction of a behavior or response.

Currently, inhibition is considered one of the main executive functions since it contributes differentially to the execution of complex cognitive tasks (Diamond, 2016; Schmeichel & Tang, 2015). In this way, inhibitory control “involves being able to control one’s attention, behavior, thoughts, and/or emotions to override a strong internal predisposition or external lure, and instead do what’s more appropriate or needed” (Diamond, 2013, p. 137). As suggested by various authors, inhibitory control not only allows the control or modulation of thoughts and behavior but also intervenes in the regulation and control of emotions, attenuating and maintaining their intensity and duration within certain limits (Gross, 1998; Ochsner & Gross, 2005; Schmeichel & Tang, 2013), and it is precisely for this reason that the inhibition (along the rest of the EFs) is usually considered a general domain function (Langer et al., 2018; Nigg, 2017).

Basically, inhibitory control, like other executive processes, constitutes an essential tool or resource at the service of self-regulation (Hofmann, Schmeichel & Baddeley, 2012; Nigg, 2017). Even as Hofmann et al. (2012) explain, the specific role of inhibition consists in functioning as a protective shield against the interference of thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. Specifically, inhibition plays a leading role in areas as heterogeneous as health -mental and physical- (Joorman & Vanderlind, 2014; White et al., 2017), the development and acquisition of academic skills (Borella, Carretti, & Pelegrina, 2010; Gilmore et al., 2013), and social and cognitive development (Baumeister, 2014; Moffitt et al., 2011; White et al., 2017). The diversity of investigations carried out and their findings have made it possible to demarcate different and fruitful lines of investigation about inhibitory control. These include the role of inhibition in a set of psychopathological disorders (White et al., 2017), and the use of statistical methods and strategies for the analysis of inhibition. In this chapter, the development of different models about the structure of inhibition (Friedman & Miyake, 2004) and the study of inhibition in emotional contexts (Reveillon et al., 2018) will be specifically addressed.