Towards real-world generalizability of a circuit for action-stopping

Two decades of cross-species neuroscience research on rapid action-stopping in the laboratory has provided motivation for an underlying prefrontal–basal ganglia circuit. Here we provide an update of key studies from the past few years. We conclude that this basic neural circuit is on increasingly firm ground, and we move on to consider whether the action-stopping function implemented by this circuit applies beyond the simple laboratory stop signal task. We advance through a series of studies of increasing ‘real-worldness’, starting with laboratory tests of stopping of speech, gait and bodily functions, and then going beyond the laboratory to consider neural recordings and stimulation during moments of control presumably required in everyday activities such as walking and driving. We end by asking whether stopping research has clinical relevance, focusing on movement disorders such as stuttering, tics and freezing of gait. Overall, we conclude there are hints that the prefrontal–basal ganglia action-stopping circuit that is engaged by the basic stop signal task is recruited in myriad scenarios; however, truly proving this for real-world scenarios requires a new generation of studies that will need to overcome substantial technical and inferential challenges. Many studies implicate a prefrontal–basal ganglia circuit in the control of action-stopping. Here, Ricci Hannah and Adam Aron provide an update of studies of this circuit, discuss its clinical relevance, and consider whether its action-stopping function applies in real-world scenarios, beyond the laboratory.