Unit 7 (Executive Function) Flashcards
Is executive function unique to humans?
No. But seems to be much more developed.
How does executive function relate to Baddeley’s model?
Same as Baddeley’s central executive
Define executive function
A collection of effortful mental skills used when alert, underlying many higher-level abilities
What are the 3 core executive functions?
Inhibitory Control
Working Memory
Cognitive Flexibility
2 types of inhibitory control
Interference control (cognitive)
Behavioral inhibition (behavioral)
Define inhibitory control
The ability to control attention and override things to accomplish a goal despite some lure.
What’s a lure?
habits of thought; external stimuli
2 types of interference control
Selective Attention
Cognitive Inhibition
What makes something harder to inhibit through selective attention?
Greater saliency makes it harder to inhibit
Cognitive inhibition
Inhibit internal and unwanted thoughts or memories
Fancy term for ‘your first thought’
What part of executive function deals with this?
Prepotent mental representations
Cognitive inhibition part of interference control, which is a part of Inhibitory control
What is the controlling or inhibiting of behavior?
Behavioral inhibition
What is the control or inhibiting of cognitions?
Interference control
What type of stimuli, intrinsic or extrinsic, is involved with inhibitory control?
Both!
What is working memory?
The manipulation of information to accomplish a goal
What part of EF is necessary for WM?
Inhibitory control is needed for WM
What is cognitive flexibility?
The ability to manipulate one’s own goals in WM and load a new goal into WM.
Explain how cognitive flexibility isn’t just ‘task-switching’
On top of switching tasks, it also switches the method to do something.
Perspective-taking is an example of which EF?
Cognitive flexibility.
Requires seeing the world in someone else’s eyes while stopping own perspective.
Does cognitive flexibility create goals?
No. Simply loads it in. Higher processes do the goal creation.
What do executive functions allow for?
Higher-level things like planning, creativity, problem-solving.
Which EF is delayed gratification a part of?
Behavioral inhibition, under Inhibitory control.
Differentiate selective attention and cognitive inhibition
Selective attention has to do with what we attend to and what we stop attending to
Cognitive inhibition involves our thoughts or memories.
Often intertwined.
What 4 factors commonly negatively affect executive functions?
1) Stress
2) Sadness
3) Sleep deprivation
4) Lack of physical exercise
List all tests of executive functions
LNS
Go/No-go
Simon
N-Back
Flanker
Shape-Color
Go/No-Go Task
What is it?
What does it test?
Given a green or red stimulus to go or not.
Tests inhibitory control. (behavioral inhibition)
Flanker Task
What is it?
What does it test?
Shown 5 arrows, but need to press the direction of the middle one.
Tests inhibitory control. (selective attention)
Simon Task
What is it?
What does it test?
Presents word ‘left’ or ‘right’ either on the left side or right side.
Tests inhibitory control (congnitive inhibition)
N-Back Task
What is it?
What does it test?
Shown a series of letters, then asked whether the current one is same as ‘n’ ago.
Tests inhibitory control and working memory
Letter-Number Sequence Task
What is it?
What does it test?
Given letters and numbers, but need to order them alphabetically/numerically.
Tests inhibitory control and working memory
Shape-Color Task
What is it?
What does it test?
Given a probe to focus either on color or on shape. Then shows color+shape and told to respond as which one.
Tests cognitive flexibility (and working memory and inhibitory control)
Given a probe to focus either on color or on shape. Then shows color+shape and told to respond as which one.
Tests cognitive flexibility (and working memory and inhibitory control)
Shape-Color Task
Given letters and numbers, but need to order them alphabetically/numerically.
Tests inhibitory control and working memory
LNS
Shown a series of letters, then asked whether the current one is same as ‘n’ ago.
Tests inhibitory control and working memory
N-Back Task
Presents word ‘left’ or ‘right’ either on the left side or right side.
Tests inhibitory control (congnitive inhibition)
Simon Task
Shown 5 arrows, but need to press the direction of the middle one.
Tests inhibitory control. (selective attention)
Flanker Task
Given a green or red stimulus to go or not.
Tests inhibitory control. (behavioral inhibition)
Go/No-Go Task
Which brain areas did Phineas Gage have injury?
Left OFC, Left dlPFC, and Left vlPFC
What were Phineas Gage’s symptoms?
Childlike personality and irregularity, stubbornness, sexual promiscuity?
All related to poor EFs!
IFG brain region
Inferior frontal gyrus
OFC brain region
Orbitofrontal Cortex
PrM brain region
Pre-Motor cortex
dlPFC brain region
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
vlPFC brain region
ventrolateral prefrontal cortex
dmPFC brain region
dorsomedial prefrontal cortex
ACC brain region
Anterior Cingulate Cortex
vmPFC brain region
ventromedial prefrontal cortex
FPC and mFPC brain region
Frontopolar Cortex and Medial Frontopolar Cortex
What brain region is active in the Go/No-Go task?
What is the function of that brain region?
Right vlPFC
Suppresses neural activity in PFC related to prior learned responses.
What brain regions are active in N-Back task?
What are the functions of the brain regions?
Bilaterally,
dlPFC - manipulate mental representations
vlPFC - hold mental representations
FPC
What brain regions are active in the Task-Switching Task? (Color-shape task?)
What are the functions of the regions?
vlPFC
dlPFC
ACC - error detection, conflict monitoring, and task shifting
What brain region has Broca’s area and has to do with speech production?
Inferior Frontal Gyrus
What brain regions is
