What is Executive Functioning
- The ability to over-ride automatic behaviours in order to deal with novel situations.
- The ability to switch flexibility between tasks.
- The ability to carry out a task while holding in mind other goals.
hot executive functioning
Performance in a social or emotional environment
Usually people have worse performance.
cold executive functioning
Less context processes, less emotionally invested
prefrontal cortex
• One common subdivision of the prefrontal cortex is into three ‘regions’:
• Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
• Orbitofrontal cortex
• Mediofrontal cortex
Frontal lobes are connected with other cortical and subcortical regions of the brain.
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex
- DLPC is involved in cognitive operations.
- Often labelled the executive circuit
- Is also implicated in the mediation of emotional, motivational and social behaviour.
deficits in the DLPC
- Working memory
- Planning, task setting and problem solving
- Sequencing
- Selective and sustained attention
- Perseveration
- Inhibition
Cognitive flexibility
testing DLPC damage
- F-A-S test (give words for each letter of the alphabet) with someone who has damage may repeat items or get stuck.
- Digit span backwards, backwards 7’s, N- back task
- Tower of hanoi
- Stroop
- Wisconsin card sort
orbitofrontal cortex
- Involved in the mediation of emotional and social responses.
- Responsible for executive processing of emotional stimuli.
Deficits can include:
- Emotional lability
- Diminished social insight
- Socially inappropriate behaviour, especially conversational skills
- Difficulties with changing reinforcements
- Lack of sensitivity to future outcomes, both positive and negative.
- Lack of empathy
mediofrontal cortex
- Very rare to get isolated damage
- Involved in response monitoring
- Error detection
- Deciding between competing responses
- Motivation or drive behaviour
Deficits following damage may include:
- Apathy
- Akinesia (motor responses reduced)
- Difficulties with emotion: flat affect (can still be enthusiastic but does not outwardly express it)
- Difficulties with decision-making
- Diminished verbal output
clinical implications of executive functioning
- Difficulties with activities of daily life
- Mood disturbances
- Disordered eating behaviour
- Other risky behaviours
when is executive functioning required?
Executive functions required when
- Planning and decision making needed - Error correction or troubleshooting required - Non-automatic or novel responses to be made - Dangerous or technically complicated responses needed - Need to overcome habit or temptation
What is included in one conceptualisation of executive functioning?
Volition
- Goal/intention formulation, motivation, self awareness etc.
Planning
- Conceptualise change, think abstractly, ability to conceive of alternative solutions and make choices, impulse control, sustained attention, memory.
Purposive action
- Initiative, maintain attention, which and stop sequences of complex behaviour (non-routine).
