Executive Function and the Frontal Lobes: A Meta-Analytic Review

Currently, there is debate among scholars regarding how to operationalize and measure executive functions. These functions generally are referred to as “supervisory” cognitive processes because they involve higher level organization and execution of complex thoughts and behavior. Although conceptualizations vary regarding what mental processes actually constitute the “executive function” construct, there has been a historical linkage of these “higher-level” processes with the frontal lobes. In fact, many investigators have used the term “frontal functions” synonymously with “executive functions” despite evidence that contradicts this synonymous usage. The current review provides a critical analysis of lesion and neuroimaging studies using three popular executive function measures (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Phonemic Verbal Fluency, and Stroop Color Word Interference Test) in order to examine the validity of the executive function construct in terms of its relation to activation and damage to the frontal lobes. Empirical lesion data are examined via meta-analysis procedures along with formula derivatives. Results reveal mixed evidence that does not support a one-to-one relationship between executive functions and frontal lobe activity. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of construing the validity of these neuropsychological tests in anatomical, rather than cognitive and behavioral, terms.     

Executive Control Functions in Degenerative Dementias: A Comparative Review

This paper reviews the literature concerning executive control impairments in degenerative dementias. The construct of executive control functioning is examined, as is the neuroanatomy of frontal–subcortical networks, believed to underlie executive function (EF) impairments. The pattern of EF impairments in Alzheimer's disease (AD) which affects temporal and parietal brain regions most severely is contrasted with observed executive dysfunctions in patients with dementias involving degeneration of primarily frontal and frontal–subcortical brain areas. EF impairments are present in each of these types of dementing illnesses. Although EF impairments are present in AD, they are less prominent than the memory disorder in the neuropsychological profile of the disease and tend to become more pronounced later in the course of the illness. In contrast, patients with frontal or frontal–subcortical dementia may demonstrate executive dysfunction, which occurs earlier in the disease progression and may be initially more severe.     

Examining the Development of Attention and Executive Functions in Children With a Novel Paradigm

The development of attention and executive functions in normal children (7–12 years) was investigated using a novel selective reaching task, which involved reaching as rapidly as possible towards a target, while at times having to ignore a distractor. The information processing paradigm allowed the measurement of various distinct dimensions of behaviour within a single task. The largest improvements in vigilance, set-shifting, response inhibition, selective attention, and impulsive responding were observed to occur between the ages of 8 and 10, with a plateau in performance between 10 and 12 years of age. These findings, consistent with a step-wise model of development, coincide with the observed developmental spurt in frontal brain functions between 7 and 10 years of age, and indicate that attention and executive functions develop in parallel. This task appears to be a useful research tool in the assessment of attention and executive functions, within a single task. Thus it may have a role in determining which cognitive functions are most affected in different childhood disorders.     

Age-Related Changes in Executive Function: A Normative Study with the Dutch Version of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF)

This study examined age-related change in executive function by using a Dutch translation of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF; Gioia et al., 2000 Gioia, G. A., Isquith, P. K., Guy, S. C. and Kenworthy, L. 2000. Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function BRIEF): Professional manual, Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.  [Google Scholar]) that was applied to a normative sample (age range 5–18 years). In addition, we examined the reliability and factorial structures of the Dutch BRIEF. Results with respect to age revealed a decrease in reported executive function problems with increasing age. On the Behavior Regulation Index (BRI), 5- to 8-year-olds showed significantly more executive function problems than 9- to 11-year-olds, as did the 12- to 14-year-olds compared to 15- to 18-year-olds (except on the Shift subscale). On the Metacognition Index, we found that 9- to 11-year-olds differed significantly from 5- to 8-year-olds on the Working Memory subscale. In addition, the current study showed that the internal consistency of the Dutch BRIEF is very high, and that this version of the BRIEF has a high test-retest stability. Item factor analysis confirmed the expected eight common factor model, and factor analysis of the eight test scores confirmed the two-factor model, as proposed by Gioia et al., in the Dutch data.     

Much ado about norming: The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function

The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) is a rating scale designed to assess executive functions in everyday life that is widely used in school and clinical settings and in research studies. It has been recently suggested, however, that the limited geographic stratification of the standardization sample renders the measure overly sensitive. We evaluated this hypothesis by examining BRIEF scores across studies of typically developing children and adolescents. Thirty-nine studies were identified that included at least one of three possible index scores. Mean scores across studies were (a) within one to two T-score units from the standardization sample mean of 50, (b) tended to be slightly lower than 50, and (c) were unrelated to geographic location (US Census regions or internationally). These findings refute recent claims that the BRIEF is overly sensitive and further add to the large body of literature supporting the validity of the measure.     

Factor structure of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions (BRIEF-P) at age three years

The preschool period is an important developmental period for the emergence of cognitive self-regulatory skills or executive functions (EF). To date, evidence regarding the structure of EF in preschool children has supported both unitary and multicomponent models. The aim of the present study was to test the factor structure of early EF as measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool version (BRIEF-P). BRIEF-P consists of five subscales and three broader indexes, hypothesized to tap into different subcomponents of EF. Parent ratings of EF from a nonreferred sample of children recruited from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (N = 1134; age range 37–47 months) were subjected to confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Three theoretically derived models were assessed; the second-order three-factor model originally proposed by the BRIEF-P authors, a “true” first-order one-factor model and a second-order one-factor model. CFA fit statistics supported the original three-factor solution. However, the difference in fit was marginal between this model and the second-order one-factor model. A follow-up exploratory factor analysis (EFA) supported the existence of several factors underlying EF in early preschool years, with a considerable overlap with the five BRIEF-P subscales. Our results suggest that some differentiation in EF has taken place at age 3 years, which is reflected in behavior ratings. The internal consistency of the BRIEF-P five clinical subscales is supported. Subscale interrelations may, however, differ at this age from those observed in the preschool group as a whole.     

A four‐disc version of the Tower of London for clinical use

Three studies are reported on the development of a four‐disc version of the Tower of London test of planning ability. The first (n = 138) involved the selection of items based on rational and empirical criteria to provide a short test of graded difficulty suitable for use with children and clinical populations. The second study (n = 480) checked the properties of the 10‐item test on a new sample and in addition examined the internal consistency and factor structure of the test. The third study (n = 61) examined the test – retest reliability of the test over a period of 1 month. The difficulty level of the test remained relatively stable from sample to sample and was sensitive to linear trend in performance from age 5 years up to 30 years. Total score did not reflect the action of a single underlying construct but rather appeared to index a number of factors. Scores were reasonably stable over the 1‐month period studied, at least for the children's sample employed. The four‐disc version is a promising method of assessing planning in children and adolescents in clinical situations.     

Influence of memory strategies on memory test performance: A study in healthy and pathological aging

ABSTRACT

The ability to generate memory strategies is a key factor in the performance of episodic memory tasks. Whether the ability to generate memory strategies exerts an influence in the performance of memory tests in the elderly population is still a matter of debate. Here we present results from an experimental memory task (Test of Memory Strategies, TMS), comprised of five lists of words starting from an incidental learning task, and four more lists which progressively gain in their external organization of the material, reducing the necessity of mobilizing complex memory strategies. TMS has been applied to four groups of elderly patients (amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment – aMCI, multidomain (mMCI), and Vascular Cognitive Impairment – VCI and Depression) and a healthy aging group. In conditions with low organization of the material, the mMCI and VCI groups (both showing a greater executive function impairment) have shown lower performance. However, as the material was progressively organized, they improved their performance. The aMCI group showed similar performance to the control group at the lower level of external organization but did not improve performance in conditions with a high level of external organization. The mMCI and VCI groups showed lower performance on all TMS conditions compared with controls. Discriminant analysis revealed 90% sensitivity and specificity to differentiate between groups based on TMS conditions. These results indicate how executive functions influence performance on memory tasks in elderly subjects with different neuropsychological profiles.     

A Developmental Investigation of Prospective Memory: Effects of Interruption

The effects of interrupting an event-based prospective memory (PM) task and its associated ongoing task were compared for two groups of children: 8- to 9-year-olds (n?=?35) and 12- to 13-year-olds (n?=?28). Additionally, PM performance was examined as a function of attainment on a battery of tests of executive functioning (viz., Controlled Oral Word Association Test, Letter Number Sequencing Test, Stroop Color and Word Test, and Trail Making Test). A significant main effect of age indicated that the older children correctly carried out intended actions more often than the younger children. Consistent with the prefrontal model of PM, interruption had no impact on PM accuracy in the older group but produced reliable decrements to the accuracy of the younger group. Whereas IQ showed no association with PM performance, reliable relations between PM skills and aspects of their executive functioning were found.     

The Nature and Organization of Individual Differences in Executive Functions: Four General Conclusions

Executive functions (EFs)-a set of general-purpose control processes that regulate one's thoughts and behaviors-have become a popular research topic lately and have been studied in many subdisciplines of psychological science. This article summarizes the EF research that our group has conducted to understand the nature of individual differences in EFs and their cognitive and biological underpinnings. In the context of a new theoretical framework that we have been developing (the unity/diversity framework), we describe four general conclusions that have emerged from our research. Specifically, we argue that individual differences in EFs, as measured with simple laboratory tasks, (1) show both unity and diversity (different EFs are correlated yet separable); (2) reflect substantial genetic contributions; (3) are related to various clinically and societally important phenomena; and (4) show some developmental stability.     

The development of and interaction among alerting,orienting, and executive attention in children

A sex-balanced sample (N = 96) of children from age 6.5 to age 12.5 completed a modified Attention Network Test. Across these ages, we found evidence for developmental changes to alerting and executive control but stable orienting. Additionally, we found that the youngest members of our sample manifested an interaction between alerting and executive control that is opposite to that typically found in adults; a reversal that diminishes with age to achieve the adult pattern by the older end of the age range of our sample.     

Latent structure of executive function in five- and six-year-old children: A longitudinal study

This longitudinal study analyses the structure of executive function in children assessed at five and six years of age and examines the longitudinal relationships between the executive function dimensions identified at the two age levels. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the latent structure of executive function at both age levels. The best fit to the data at both age levels was a two-factor model in which inhibition was distinguished, while working memory and shifting emerged as a unitary component. Some variables show a moderate longitudinal stability and the inhibitory control tasks display reduced continuity across ages.     

Executive Function and Mental Rotation During Middle Childhood: The Effect of Age

The authors examined the relative contributions of three aspects of executive function with two-dimensional (2D) mental rotation in children between 8 and 12?years old. Participants were given one standard 2D mental rotation measure, two working memory tasks (Corsi blocks and digit span), two inhibitory control tasks (Stroop and go/no go), and two planning ability tests (Tower of Hanoi and Tower of London). The correlational patterns between executive function and 2D mental rotation were different depending on age. More inhibitory control in younger children was associated with better performance in mental rotation, but not in older children. These results add to the understanding of the specific nature of children’s executive function-mental rotation relations.     

A latent variables examination of processing speed, response inhibition, and working memory during typical development

This study addressed three related aims: (a) to replicate and extend previous work regarding the nonunitary nature of processing speed, response inhibition, and working memory during development; (b) to quantify the rate at which processing speed, response inhibition, and working memory develop and the extent to which the development of these latter abilities reflect general changes in processing speed; and (c) to evaluate whether commonly used tasks of processing speed, response inhibition, and working memory are valid and reliable when used with a developmentally diverse group. To address these aims, a latent variables approach was used to analyze data from 147 participants 6-24 years of age. Results showed that processing speed, response inhibition, and working memory were separable abilities and that the extent of this separability was stable across the age range of participants. All three constructs improved as a function of age; however, only the effect of age on working memory remained significant after processing speed was controlled. The psychometric properties of tasks used to assess the constructs were age invariant, thereby validating their use in studies of executive development.     

儿童和青少年的应对发展研究新进展

本文从发展心理学的视角,综合有关儿童和青少年应对的研究,对应对的理论发展,儿童和青少年应对发展的特点和趋势以及影响因素等问题进行了梳理,并概述了该领域的研究动向。应对的理论发展体现出从静态到动态,从单因素向多因素,从单维度向多水平的特点。儿童和青少年的应对发展需要某些认知能力的支持,并和调节过程具有密切的联系。作为心理学重要研究领域的应对,对其本身结构、相关研究方法以及应对对个体心理发展的作用机制等问题的探索还有待进一步的深入。     

Understanding symptoms of medical frontal lobe disorder: A clinical case study

A case of anterior communicating artery aneurysm with damage to inferior medial frontal areas (Brodmann areas 25, 32, 24-inferior) is presented. Four prominent deficits are discussed: (1) anterograde amnesia, (2) inert perseverative card sorting, (3) motor stereotypies, and (4) reduplicative paramnesia. These four deficits are discussed as negative or positive symptoms, related either to damage in inferior medial frontal (Brodmann areas 25, 32, 24-inferior) regions or release phenomena of superior medial frontal (Brodmann areas 6-medial and 24-superior) regions. It is concluded that the inferior and superior medial frontal regions act as opponent processors, with the inferior (B25, 32) area functioning to switch current mental set while the superior (B24-superior, 6-medial) region functions to maintain current mental set. Testable hypotheses about the opponent processor mechanism are suggested, as applied to neuropsychiatric disorders.     

Development of Family Functions and Relationship in Families: A Mixed-Design Study

Abstract

This is a mixed-design study that examines the effects of a psychoeducation program on family functioning and the parent-adolescent relationship. The quantitative dimension of the study was quasi-experimental and included the pretest, post-test and follow-up model with control and experiment groups. The data were collected from both parents and adolescents. In the study, there were 32 adolescents in the experiment group (18 male, 14 female), while the control group consisted of 31 adolescents (15 male, 16 female). The results of the study show that the education program decreases the problem behaviors of adolescents while increasing family functions and promoting the adolescent-parent relationship     

Metamemory following childhood brain injury: A consequence of executive impairment

In this study, we investigated the influence of children’s level of executive functioning on two types of metamemory knowledge following a traumatic brain injury (TBI). For this purpose, 22 children (aged 7 to 14 years) who had sustained a moderate to severe TBI and 44 typically developing children were recruited. The children with TBI were divided into two groups according to the severity of their executive impairment. Injury severity was determined by the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score on admission or by the duration of unconsciousness. All children were then tested on both their knowledge of general memory functioning and their level of memory self-awareness, respectively assessed using the total number of correct responses on an adapted version of a metamemory interview and a self-other discrepancy score on a questionnaire evaluating everyday memory abilities. Data analyses revealed that participants with TBI who suffered impaired executive functions demonstrated less general metamemory knowledge, and underestimated the frequency of their memory problems, compared with children with TBI who had preserved executive functions and with control participants. Considering the well-established effect of metamemory knowledge on people’s spontaneous implementation of strategies, the interest and the importance of these findings on both theoretical and clinical grounds are discussed.     

Attention,Response Inhibition,and Face-Information Processing in Children: The Role of Task Characteristics,Age, and Gender

The aim of the study was to assess: (a) developmental changes in attention, response inhibition, and face-information processing using the new Balloons task and (b) to evaluate the association between measures derived from the task with reported behavior problems. One hundred and thirty-four typically developing children (53 boys and 81 girls) were tested with the Balloons. Their parents and teachers completed the Child Behavior Checklist. Our results validate the Balloons as a reliable task with significant effects of manipulations in difficulty level (speed, processing load, and processing type). The results suggest that face-information processing undergoes significant changes during the age period between 7 and 13 years with significant gender differences. Modest but significant correlations were found between the Balloons' measures and behavior problems.     

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and the cognitive assessment of prefrontal executive functions: A critical update

For over four decades the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) has been one of the most distinctive tests of prefrontal function. Clinical research and recent brain imaging have brought into question the validity and specificity of this test as a marker of frontal dysfunction. Clinical studies with neurological patients have confirmed that, in its traditional form, the WCST fails to discriminate between frontal and non-frontal lesions. In addition, functional brain imaging studies show rapid and widespread activation across frontal and non-frontal brain regions during WCST performance. These studies suggest that the concept of an anatomically pure test of prefrontal function is not only empirically unattainable, but also theoretically inaccurate. The aim of the present review is to examine the causes of these criticisms and to resolve them by incorporating new methodological and conceptual advances in order to improve the construct validity of WCST scores and their relationship to prefrontal executive functions. We conclude that these objectives can be achieved by drawing on theory-guided experimental design, and on precise spatial and temporal sampling of brain activity, and then exemplify this using an integrative model of prefrontal function [i.e., Miller, E. K. (2000). The prefrontal cortex and cognitive control. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 1, 59–65.] combined with the formal information theoretical approach to cognitive control [Koechlin, E., & Summerfield, C. (2007). An information theoretical approach to prefrontal executive function. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11, 229–235.].