executive functions Flashcards
“executive functions”
is a useful label to describe many human abilities that allow us to engage in independent and purposive behavior
measuring executive functions
competing interests of specificity and ecological validity; distinctions between clinical setting and everyday environments
Clinical approaches
interview & collateral information; use sensitive tests; convergence of evidence across domains; appropriately interpret single scores
interview & collateral information
get information about what the person is struggling with & their awareness of their difficulty
use sensitive tests
recognizing lack specificity; sensitive but NOT specific to frontal lobe deficits
convergence of evidence across domains
social, vocational, interviewing, testing, etc.
organization of frontal cortex
intimate connections with posterior, limbic & subcortical structures; allows for integration of internal and external cues; supplementary vs premotor cortex
supplementary cortex
more anterior; active in internally mediated tasks
premotor cortex
more active in tasks responding to cue
dorsolateral cortex
central in working memory; internally mediated task–given information and act upon it–> manipulate it–> spit it back out
lateral/ medial orbitofrontal cortex
processing external cues; inhibition of inappropriate behavioral responses
anterior cingulate
sensitive to reward and punishment; important in processing/monitoring context of behavior
disconnection between internal/external cues
failure to respond to internal cues in absence of external cues (may underlie lack of behavioral spontaneity, apathy); failure to attend to external cues and over rely on internal cues (leads to failure to modify behavior based on feedback)
Hierarchical models of executive function
- Baddeley: Central Executive and Slave Systems (phonological working memory)
- Norman & Shallice: supervisory attentional system; automatic and controlled processes
Temporal integration models of executive function
- fuster: attention, working memory, preparatory task set, response monitoring (evaluate outcome of what we just did)
- these functions linked across time
- when people don’t have this–> they’re anchored in the present
Somatic Marker Hypothesis
- Hot & Cold tasks
- Reason and emotion both influence behavior
- Connections with both posterior and limbic structures
- Not all decisions processed “cognitively”
- Not all decisions “rational”
hot & cold tasks
hot= emotion; cold= logic
Somatic markers
links to emotional/bodily sensations to assist in decision making; visceral/bodily sensation provide efficient way to make decisions
Orbitofrontal Regions & Somatic Marker Hypothesis
central in limbic-frontal lobe connections; damage minimizes input of visceral part of decision-making process
Frontal Lobe damage & somatic maker hypothesis
Psychophysiological processes of pts with frontal lobe damage
- Abnormal responses to emotionally laden pix
- Iowa Gambling Task
Iowa Gambling Task
-Pt’s with frontal lobe damage tended to choose risky decks compared to controls
-GSR data:
Responses similar between groups upon turning over card;
Anticipatory responses dissimilar (Not learning from feedback–> can’t learn consequences of your actions–> frontal lobe problems–> no anticipatory problems)
Measuring executive functions
inhibition; planning; set shifting/mental flexibility
inhibition
Go/no-Go (pen tapping); CPT (hit a key unless proceeded by an a)
planning
tower tasks; applied measures (multiple errands test; tinker toy test)
