executive functions

Question 1

“executive functions”

Answer 1

is a useful label to describe many human abilities that allow us to engage in independent and purposive behavior

Question 2

measuring executive functions

Answer 2

competing interests of specificity and ecological validity; distinctions between clinical setting and everyday environments

Question 3

Clinical approaches

Answer 3

interview & collateral information; use sensitive tests; convergence of evidence across domains; appropriately interpret single scores

Question 4

interview & collateral information

Answer 4

get information about what the person is struggling with & their awareness of their difficulty

Question 5

use sensitive tests

Answer 5

recognizing lack specificity; sensitive but NOT specific to frontal lobe deficits

Question 6

convergence of evidence across domains

Answer 6

social, vocational, interviewing, testing, etc.

Question 7

organization of frontal cortex

Answer 7

intimate connections with posterior, limbic & subcortical structures; allows for integration of internal and external cues; supplementary vs premotor cortex

Question 8

supplementary cortex

Answer 8

more anterior; active in internally mediated tasks

Question 9

premotor cortex

Answer 9

more active in tasks responding to cue

Question 10

dorsolateral cortex

Answer 10

central in working memory; internally mediated task–given information and act upon it–> manipulate it–> spit it back out

Question 11

lateral/ medial orbitofrontal cortex

Answer 11

processing external cues; inhibition of inappropriate behavioral responses

Question 12

anterior cingulate

Answer 12

sensitive to reward and punishment; important in processing/monitoring context of behavior

Question 13

disconnection between internal/external cues

Answer 13

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)

Question 14

Hierarchical models of executive function

Answer 14

1. Baddeley: Central Executive and Slave Systems (phonological working memory)
2. Norman & Shallice: supervisory attentional system; automatic and controlled processes

Question 15

Temporal integration models of executive function

Answer 15

1. fuster: attention, working memory, preparatory task set, response monitoring (evaluate outcome of what we just did)
2. these functions linked across time
3. when people don’t have this–> they’re anchored in the present

Question 16

Somatic Marker Hypothesis

Answer 16

• 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”

Question 17

hot & cold tasks

Answer 17

hot= emotion; cold= logic

Question 18

Somatic markers

Answer 18

links to emotional/bodily sensations to assist in decision making; visceral/bodily sensation provide efficient way to make decisions

Question 19

Orbitofrontal Regions & Somatic Marker Hypothesis

Answer 19

central in limbic-frontal lobe connections; damage minimizes input of visceral part of decision-making process

Question 20

Frontal Lobe damage & somatic maker hypothesis

Answer 20

Psychophysiological processes of pts with frontal lobe damage

• Abnormal responses to emotionally laden pix
• Iowa Gambling Task

Question 21

Iowa Gambling Task

Answer 21

-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)

Question 22

Measuring executive functions

Answer 22

inhibition; planning; set shifting/mental flexibility

Question 23

inhibition

Answer 23

Go/no-Go (pen tapping); CPT (hit a key unless proceeded by an a)

Question 24

planning

Answer 24

tower tasks; applied measures (multiple errands test; tinker toy test)

Question 25

set shifting/mental flexibility

Answer 25

shifting, preservation; California card sort, wisconsin card sort, category test