EF's in Real Life

Question 1

influences on EF development

Answer 1

• cultural differences
  ex. cultures that suppress emotion will have children develop stronger emotional regulation
• parenting style
• physical and/or emotional abuse: associated with poor EF
• Socioeconomic status (SES): low SES associated with poor EF
• environmental toxins
• prenatal alcohol exposure

Question 2

study showing low SES associated with weaker attentional control

Answer 2

• used EEG
• show kids a movie, have headphones on
• looking at inhibitory and attentional control
• one side = audio of movie
• other side = audio of diff movie (distraction)
• looked at P1 wave (reflects attention)
• in those with higher maternal education: strong boost in P1 wave displaying attention when listening to the correct vs incorrect audio
• in lower maternal education: no difference in attention between correct and incorrect
• shows they have harder time filtering out distractions

Question 3

executive control and the development and maintenance of an addiction

Answer 3

• reduced connectivity between reward and cognitive control areas can cause substance use disorders
• disconnections between the executive control network (resists impulses and controls behaviours) and salience network (decide what to pay attention to)
• increased self control capacity is associated with prevention and overcoming of addiction

Question 4

COVID-19 pandemic and effect on executive functioning

Answer 4

• mental fogginess reports from those with long covid
• associated with serotonin disruption in the brain
• can be associated with decline in working memory