Executive functions Flashcards
What are the systems at the core of executive functions?
- Inhibition (behavioural and cognitive)
- Working memory
- Cognitive flexibility
Why are EF needed?
To select the appropriate behaviour in a complex and constantly changing environment.
True or false: EF can be impaired, but cannot be trained and improved.
False: can also be trained and improved.
Is using EF in a fictional scenario (e.g., thinking about an outcome) also recruiting the activation of its corresponding brain areas?
Yes.
What does differentiate functional from structural connectivity in the CNS?
Structural connectivity: physical connection
Functional connectivity: simply part of the same functional network
What are the two types of neuroimaging techniques used to study EF?
Structural neuroimaging Functional neuroimaging (paired with neuropsychological tests)
Except neuroimaging, what are other study methods used to investigate EF?
Animal studies
Computational neuroscience
Lesion studies and clinical syndromes
What is the frontal association cortex composed of?
Prefrontal cortex and motor-related areas (except primary motor cortex)
What is the central function of dlPFC? What are three of its predominant interconnected areas?
Determining the behaviour to adopt in the actual context, final step in executive functions.
Interconnected with:
OFC, ACC (reward related) Premotor cortex (planning related, planning the movement sequence of the future behaviour) Parietal areas (attention related)
What does allow a flexible behaviour?
Overriding habits and find new solutions to non-predictable circumstances.
Where is the seat (cerebral structure) of working memory?
dlPFC
What structure is responsible for maintenance of abstract rules and the adaptation to new abstract rules?
dlPFC
What is observed in the cerebral electrical activity with the implementation of different abstract rules?
Different firing patterns.
What structure(s) involved in EF is/are responsible to estimate the reward value of options and use the information for decision-making? What are its three input types? What structures are responsible for each input type?
OFC and vmPFC
- Uses sensory areas + interoception (how does an option makes us “feel”) for the identification of stimuli and their properties
- Uses hippocampus, amygdala and medial temporal lobe for memory
- Uses reward-related neurons in midbrain for associations between actions and consequences
Are the values associated to outcomes maintained by OFC and vmPFC subjective (subject to change)?
Yes, and different firing patterns reflect those changes.
What structure involved in EF could be described as a cognitive map? Why?
OFC because it is storing relevant behavioural stimuli with their associated values and potential outcomes, acting as a bridge between the external world and the internal states.
What is the principal role of ACC? To what other structures is it connected to? Why?
Learn from the consequences of our behaviour.
Sends information to dlPFC to identify outcomes with high risk of failure.
Sends information to OFC to update subjective values.
____ detects the need to change of behaviour, ___ implements the change.
Fill the gaps with two structures involved in EF.
ACC detects the need to change of behaviour, dlPFC implements the change.
What disorder is linked to increased levels of activity in the ACC?
OCD
In what area can be observed the electrical activity of error related negativity?
ACC
What structure involved in EF is important for interoception?
Anterior Insula
What is interoception?
Evaluating its own physiological activity, how we “feel” (“gut” feeling).
What structure involved in EF is receiving visceral inputs from peripheral nervous system?
Anterior Insula.
True or false: interoception does not affect decision-making.
False.
What structure is often affected in disorders that impair decision making (e.g. compuslive gambling, drug addiction)?
Anterior Insula
Lesion to what structure would lead to a bad performance in the Iowa Gambling Task?
Anterior Insula
What is the somatic marker hypothesis?
Bodily sensations are associated to outcomes and influence decisions. Somatic markers are peripheral states that come with emotion.
What structure involved in EF is responsible for behavioural inhibition?
vlPFC
What is behavioural inhibition involved in?
Self control and reduce impulsivity.
What structure involved in EF is highly activated in the default mode network?
PCC
