Executive Functions Flashcards
Executive Functions
- Executive functions are a broad set of important and necessary
higher-order cognitive functions (e.g., emotional and
behavioral regulation, planning, organization) people use for
efficiently carrying out everyday tasks. : executive
functions require more cognitive resources and result in broader
benefits.
What brain areas are associated with executive functioning?
- Motor circuit
- Oculomotor circuit (integration of emotional information into contextually appropriate behavioral responses
- Dorsolateral prefrontal circuit (mediates executive functions)
- Anterior cingulate circuit (motivational mechanisms)
- Orbitofrontal circuit (lateral and medial divisions); Personality change is the hallmark of orbitofrontal dysfunction; Involved in cognitive and affective functions; end stage site for projections from the sensory cortex that responds to
pleasant and painful sensation and experiences - Ventromedial orbitofrontal circuit (impulse control and internal emotional states)
Orbitofrontal Circuit: Emotional and Behavioral symptoms associated with OFC damage:
Prominent disinhibition and/or irritability.
* Nonresponsive to social cues.
* Inappropriate jocularity.
* Emotional instability.
* Demonstrate undue familiarity.
* Lack of social judgment and discretion.
* Unempathic.
* Inattention and distractibility.
* Hyperactivity.
* Hypomania or mania (not uncommon)
Dorsolateral Circuit
Considered the “brain manager” in charge of executive function and working memory activities.
Promotes EF
Activation of remote memories
Organizes a behavioral response to solve a complex problem (e.g., learning new information, copying complicated figures, and systematically searching memory)
Shifting and maintaining behavioral sets appropriately
Dorsolateral Circuit Impairments manifest in
Reduced learning efficiency and memory retrieval.
* Disruptions in working memory.
* Decreased verbal fluency and/or design fluency.
* Impaired set shifting.
* Poor organizational skills and strategies.
* Poor problem solving, goal selection, planning, monitoring, and utilization of
feedback in task performance.
* Difficulties focusing and sustaining attention.
* Difficulties generating hypotheses.
Anterior Cingulate Cortex
- Ensures that processing in other brain regions is adequately
committed given current task demands: - Responding to novelty.
- Self-monitoring of performance.
- Inhibiting automatic (prepotent) responses.
- Shifting cognitive set.
- Complex or multifaceted decision making.
- Motivational mechanisms.
- Utilizing an approach-avoidance paradigm.
- processes emotional information that helps determine when to approach and when to avoid an event.
Frontal Lobe Associated Syndromes
ADHD
Anxiety Disorders
Anorexia
PTSD
Obsessive Compulsive Disorders
Depressive Disorders
Bipolar Disorders
A person’s development of executive functions is generally completed within the same time as
Young adulthood
The _____ _____ are implicated in higher level cognitive processes, including executive functions.
Frontal lobes
Research shows that the cerebellum influences aspects of executive functioning
True/ False
True
These behaviors are frequently associated with descriptions of executive functions
Concept generation
Set shifting
Problem solving
Emotional and behavioral conditions that are frequently associated with executive dysfunction include:
PTSD
Bipolar disorder
Pronounced changes in personality are associated with damage to
The orbitofrontal circuit
The development of executive functions is associated with:
Myelination of the frontal lobe
Changes in the anterior cingulate may result in apathy and decreased initiative.
True/False
True
