Executive functions

Question 1

What are executive functions?

Answer 1

Mental processes needed to pay attention and/or concentrate when on “automatic” or when we are unable to use our instincts or intuition

Question 2

What is inhibitory control?

Answer 2

Controlling one’s behaviour, emotions, thoughts and/or attention and not acting on impulse. It also helps us choose what we pay attention to.

Question 3

What is self-control?

Answer 3

Controlling one’s behavior and emotions, delaying gratification, focusing on a task and ignoring distractions

Question 4

Working memory

Answer 4

Holds information and allows our brain to work on it.

Question 5

How do inhibitory control and working memory support each other?

Answer 5

Inhibitory control suppresses any information that is not important.

Question 6

Cognitive flexibility

Answer 6

Ability to change perspectives, change tasks and adjust to new expectations. It is our ability to “think outside the box”
COMBINES INHIBITORY AND WORKING MEMORY

Question 7

Examples of cold executive functions

Answer 7

Working memory, cognitive flexibility, response inhibition, planning, task-switching

Question 8

Brain areas involved in cold executive functioning

Answer 8

Lateral pre-frontal cortex, dorsolateral and ventral prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex

Question 9

Examples of hot executive functions

Answer 9

affective/risky decision making, reward processing, emotional regulation, delay discounting

Question 10

Brain areas associated with hot executive functions

Answer 10

orbito and medial prefrontal cortex
Ventral anterior cingulate cortex
Posterior cingulate cortex

Question 11

Describe the pathways in the prefrontal-cingular network

Answer 11

Lateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex connect to form cold EFs

Orbito and medial PFC, ventral acc, and posterior cingulate cortex come together to form hot EFs

Question 12

What is intentional blindness?

Answer 12

Not noticing an event when focusing on performing a task. It highlights how limited our attentional capacity is

Question 13

What is change blindness?

Answer 13

Not detecting a change in the visual environment; due to attention focusing on something else or there is disruption in vision. Highlights how limited our attention is and that if something is not in our immediate focus it will be missed.