What is Cognitive control?
Cognitive control (also called executive control) is the set of neural processes that enable goal-directed behavior by overriding automatic responses, maintaining task rules in working memory, and flexibly switching between tasks.
How it works
Cognitive control is primarily mediated by the prefrontal cortex and includes three core components: inhibition (suppressing prepotent responses), working memory updating (holding and manipulating task-relevant information), and cognitive flexibility (switching between mental sets). These processes enable humans to behave according to plans rather than impulses, making them essential for self-regulation, planning, and adaptive behavior. Cognitive control is energetically costly and has limited capacity.
Applied example
A person on a diet who reaches for a cookie but stops themselves, remembers their health goal, and chooses an apple instead exercises all three cognitive control components: inhibition (stopping the automatic reach), working memory (maintaining the diet goal), and flexibility (switching from the cookie plan to the apple plan).
Why it matters
Cognitive control is the neural foundation of self-regulation, explaining both how humans can override impulses in service of long-term goals and why they often fail when cognitive control resources are depleted.
