Response inhibition and exercise: from theory to translational practice

Response inhibition (RI), the ability to suppress a prepotent or ongoing action in response to sensory information, is a core control function that supports adaptive behaviour in everyday life, sport, and rehabilitation. Although RI has been widely studied in cognitive neuroscience and clinical research, reviews have rarely focused specifically on how RI relates to physical activity. This Mini Review addresses this gap by integrating three strands: (i) conceptual foundations of RI including neural mechanisms supporting proactive and reactive inhibition, (ii) elite athletes as a model of long-term adaptation, and (iii) exercise-induced modulation of RI. We first outline the distinction between proactive and reactive inhibition and summarise representative behavioural paradigms for their assessment. We then review converging evidence implicating cortico-basal ganglia circuit in stopping, highlighting candidate pathways that may differentially support anticipatory and stimulus-driven control. Building on this mechanistic framework, we discuss athlete research as a natural model for understanding experience-dependent changes in RI, and we summarise evidence that acute exercise can transiently modulate inhibitory performance, with implications for ageing and rehabilitation. By synthesising definitions, neural substrates, adaptive models, and exercise effects, we aim to advance a practical and evaluatable framework for the assessment and targeting of RI in sport, clinical rehabilitation, and daily functioning.