We explain what inhibition is and what its causes may be. In addition, its meaning in psychology, biology and law.
What is inhibition?
Inhibition, the effect of inhibiting or inhibiting oneself, is the action of preventing, repressing or prohibiting an action, a habit or a college. The term is used frequently in the areas of psychology, the biochemistry and the right, and comes from the Latin verb inhibit, and with which formerly it referred to the action of rowing against the movement of a boat, in order to slow down or stop its advance.
Inhibition can be motivated by factors or powers external to the individual, or by factors inherent to himself, and in the latter case it is possible to speak of self-inhibition. In both cases, however, the result is the delay, obstruction or impediment of an action or a conduct, which thereafter can be considered inhibited.
Inhibition in psychology
In psychological terms, inhibition is understood as the suspension or repression of a behavior in the individual, either by external contextual factors, or by internal emotional or psychic factors. This mental phenomenon can be understood in two very different ways, one more "positive" and the other more "negative", that is, one that benefits social performance and the other that hinders it.
- In the first case, inhibition is understood as an executive function cognitive that allows us not to react automatically or unconsciously to a stimulus, but we are able to inhibit certain responses to carry them out at a more propitious moment, or to suppress them altogether and not give them a way out. This is key to social peace and community treatment.
- In the second case, on the other hand, inhibition is understood as a pernicious psychological factor that hinders free social exercise and leads the individual to repress expressions perfectly normal to his personality. These inhibited people tend to withdraw and isolate themselves socially, as a consequence of some type of social trauma or lack of self esteem necessary to assert yourself in front of others.
Inhibition in biology
In the field of biology and especially biochemistry, the concept of inhibition applies to the impediment or interruption of controlled chemical reactions, as a consequence of the action of certain protein (enzymes, for example) or pharmacological substances. In fact, this is a term widely used in the medical and pharmacological field: many medicines inhibit a certain protein or a certain process.
Biochemical inhibition can therefore be of two different types:
Enzyme inhibition, which consists of the action of molecules specific capable of binding to an enzyme (that is, a specialized protein with catalyst functions in the body), to decrease the intensity of its actions, that is, to attenuate them. This type of action is very common in pesticides and medicines, since once introduced into an organism, these molecules punctually modify the behavior of natural enzymes, for better or for worse. These inhibition processes can be of three types, in turn:
- Competitive inhibition, when the inhibiting substance takes the place of the usual substrates with which the enzyme interacts, preventing it from fulfilling its usual role.
- Non-competitive inhibition, when the inhibiting substance does not prevent the contact between the substrate and the enzyme, but it does reduce its effectiveness through parallel biochemical processes.
- Mixed inhibition, when the inhibiting substance does not prevent the binding of the substrate and the enzyme, but does act as a bridge between them, that is, it modifies or modulates said interaction, as long as the substrate concentrations allow it.
Lateral inhibition, meanwhile, is a non-enzymatic cellular procedure in which a cell it inhibits another adjacent one in its growth, differentiation or activity, thus exerting a type of cellular control through the Notch signaling pathway (that is, intercellular communication through the exchange of transmembrane proteins).
Inhibition in law
In the field of law and legal action, inhibition is understood as the action of preventing a judicial instance (a judge, a court, etc.) from exercising its role in a specific case, considering that it is impeded for it due to at the loss of impartiality or lack of competence.