Executive Function

Executive functions in individuals with intellectual disability

by Lucy Henry

Danielsson, H., Henry, L., Rönnberg, J. & Nilsson, L-G. (2010). Executive functions in individuals with intellectual disability.  Research in Developmental Disabilities, 31, 1299-1304.

The aim of the present study was to investigate executive functions in adults with intellectual disability, and... more The aim of the present study was to investigate executive functions in adults with intellectual disability, and compare them to a closely matched control group longitudinally for 5 years. In the Betula database, a group of adults with intellectual disability (ID, n=46) was defined from measures of verbal and nonverbal IQ. A control group, with two people for every person with intellectual disability (n=92), was chosen by matching on the following criterion in order of priority: IQ higher than 85, age, sex, sample, level of education, and years of education. 3 types of tasks of executive functions were included on 2 occasions, with 5 years between testing sessions: The Tower of Hanoi, executively loaded dual task versions of word recall, and verbal fluency. Adults with ID showed significant impairments on verbal fluency and on the executively loaded dual task word recall task (at encoding but not at recall). There were no group differences on the Tower of Hanoi. No significant differences between the 2 test occasions were found. The results are interpreted in terms of individuals with ID having problems with speed of accessing lexical items and difficulties with working memory-related executive control at encoding, which includes shifting between tasks. There are, however, not necessarily problems with inhibition. The dual task results additionally imply that the adults with intellectual disability were more sensitive to strategy interruptions at encoding, but that dividing attention at recall did not have such detrimental effects.

The assessment of executive functioning in children

by Lucy Henry

Henry, L.A. & Bettenay, C. (2010). The assessment of executive functioning in children.  Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 15(2), 110-119.

Background: Executive functioning is increasingly seen as incorporating several component sub-skills and clinical... more Background: Executive functioning is increasingly seen as incorporating several component sub-skills and clinical assessments should reflect this complexity.

Method: Tools for assessing executive functioning in children are reviewed within five key areas, across verbal and visuospatial abilities, with emphasis on batteries of tests.

Results: There are many appropriate tests for children, although the choice is more limited for those under the age of 8 years.

Conclusions: Whilst there are several batteries of executive functioning suitable for children, clinicians may prefer to cherry-pick from a broader range of measures that assess specific components of executive functioning.

The effects of mindfulness on executive processes and autobiographical memory specificity

by Alexandre Heeren

Heeren, A., Van Broeck, N., & Philippot, P. (2009). The effects of mindfulness training on executive processes and autobiographical memory specificity. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47, 403-409.

Poznanie i zachowanie spoleczne a funkcje wykonawcze u pajcentow ze schizofrenia i choroba afektywna dwubiegunowa

by Pawel Krukow

Article in Polish, by Krukow and Karakula

The article is a comparative case study of patients with schizophrenia ang bipolar affective disorder in the area of... more The article is a comparative case study of patients with schizophrenia ang bipolar affective disorder in the area of social cognition, executive functions, neuropsychological profile and Evoked Potentials.

Asthma and behavior in homeless 4-to 7-year-olds

by J. J. Cutuli

Impact of Smoking on Cognitive Decline in Early Old Age: The Whitehall II Cohort Study

by Gareth Hagger-Johnson

Contrasts between the cardiovascular concomitants of tests of planning and attention

by Hugh Middleton

Lesion Evidence That Two Distinct Regions Within Prefrontal Cortex Are Critical for N-Back Performance In Humans

by Ami Tsuchida

A study of semantic memory after brain injury: Learning newly coined French words

by Nathalie Bedoin

Objective. – To investigate semantic memory in brain-injured patients.
Methods. – We used the new word... more Objective. – To investigate semantic memory in brain-injured patients.
Methods. – We used the new word questionnaire (QMN) to assess the ability of 12 brain-injured patients and 12 healthy controls to define French
words, which had been admitted to the dictionary in 1996 to 1997 or in 2006 to 2007.
Results. – Despite amnesia or severe executive disorders, the brain-injured patients were able to learn new words and remember those that they
already learnt. They successfully selected the relevant phrase in which the new word was placed and were reasonably good at recognizing the right
definition from among decoys. In contrast, they had trouble defining the words and compensated for this by giving examples. These problems were
correlated with their vocabulary and executive function scores in a battery of neuropsychological tests.
Conclusion. – Our results suggest that frontal injury leads to an impairment in accurate word selection and the scheduling abilities required to
generate word definitions.

From State-socialism to EU-Accession: Contrasting the gendering of (executive) political power in Central Europe

by Maxime Forest

Preliminary version of a chapter published in Bauer, G. and M. Tremblay (eds.) Women in Power Executives: A Global Overview. London, New York: Routledge, 2011, pp. 65-84

A comparison of women's access to power executives in Central and Eastern Europe since WWII, with a focus on the Czech... more A comparison of women's access to power executives in Central and Eastern Europe since WWII, with a focus on the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Croatia.

Improved Inter-task Coordination Skills after extensive Dual-task Practice.

by Tilo Strobach

*Liepelt, R., Strobach, T., Frensch, P. A., & Schubert, T. (2011). Improved Inter-task Coordination Skills after extensive Dual-task Practice. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64(7), 1251 – 1272. (*Both first authors share first-authorship and contributed equally to this work.)

Schizotypy and Behavioural Adjustment and the Role of Neuroticism.

by Tilo Strobach

Völter, C., Strobach, T., Aichert, D. S., Wöstmann, N., Costa, A., Möller, H.-J., Schubert, T., & Ettinger, U. (2012). Schizotypy and Behavioural Adjustment and the Role of Neuroticism. PLoS One, 7(2), e30078.

Investigation on the improvement and transfer of dual-task coordination skills

by Tilo Strobach

Strobach, T., Frensch, P. A., Soutschek, A., & Schubert, T. (in press). Investigation on the improvement and transfer of dual-task coordination skills. Psychological Research.

Executive functioning in children with specific language impairment.

by Lucy Henry

Henry, L.A., Messer, D.J. & Nash, G. (2012). Executive functioning in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 53:1, 37-45. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02430.x

Abstract
Background. A limited range of evidence suggests that children with SLI have difficulties with higher... more Abstract
Background. A limited range of evidence suggests that children with SLI have difficulties with higher order thinking and reasoning skills (executive functioning, EF). This study involved a comprehensive investigation of EF in this population taking into account the contributions of age, non-verbal IQ and verbal ability.

Methods. 10 separate measures of EF were assessed in 160 children: 41 had SLI; 31 had low language/cognitive functioning but did not fulfil the criteria for SLI (LLF); and 88 were typically-developing with no language difficulties. Group differences in performance were assessed after controlling for age, non-verbal IQ and verbal ability in a series of regression analyses.

Results. Children with SLI and LLF had significantly lower performance than typical children on six out of the 10 EF tasks once age and non-verbal IQ had been controlled (verbal and non-verbal executive-loaded working memory; verbal and non-verbal fluency; non-verbal inhibition; non-verbal planning). Performance on these EF tasks remained lower for those in the SLI group even when verbal IQ was entered in the regressions.

Conclusions. Children with language impairments showed marked difficulties on a range of EF tasks. These difficulties were present even when adjustments were made for their verbal abilities.

Strengths and weaknesses in executive functioning in children with intellectual disability

by Lucy Henry

Danielsson, H., Henry, L.A., Messer, D.J. & Rönnberg, J. (2012). Strengths and weaknesses in executive functioning in children with intellectual disability. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 33, 600–607. Doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.11.004

Children with intellectual disability (ID) were given a comprehensive range of executive functioning measures, which... more Children with intellectual disability (ID) were given a comprehensive range of executive functioning measures, which systematically varied in terms of verbal and non-verbal demands. Their performance was compared to the performance of groups matched on mental age (MA) and chronological age (CA), respectively. Twenty-two children were included in each group. Children with ID performed on par with the MA group on switching, verbal executive-loaded working memory and most fluency tasks, but below the MA group on inhibition, planning, and non-verbal executive-loaded working memory. Children with ID performed below CA comparisons on all the executive tasks. We suggest that children with ID have a specific profile of executive functioning, with MA appropriate abilities to generate new exemplars (fluency) and to switch attention between tasks, but difficulties with respect to inhibiting pre-potent responses, planning, and non-verbal executive-loaded working memory. The development of different types of executive functioning skills may, to different degrees, be related to mental age and experience.

Apparent transient effects of recent" ecstasy" use on cognitive performance and extrapyramidal signs in human subjects

by Ryan Smith

OBJECTIVES:
Our purpose is to investigate cognitive performance and extrapyramidal function early after ecstasy... more OBJECTIVES:
Our purpose is to investigate cognitive performance and extrapyramidal function early after ecstasy use.

BACKGROUND:
Ecstasy, containing 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, has shown evidence of causing cognitive deficits and parkinsonian signs. Previous research has examined cognitive performance after a period of prolonged abstinence, but research assessing the early effects of ecstasy after recent use is limited despite temporal neurochemical differences demonstrated in nonhuman models.

METHODS:
This study compared task performance between 13 ecstasy users (10 to 15 h postdrug use) and a control group on a battery of neuropsychologic assessments while matching for education level, sleep deprivation, and premorbid IQ. The groups were also compared on measures relating to parkinsonian signs.

RESULTS:
The ecstasy subjects showed impairments on measures of executive function as evaluated by Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST). Short-delay free recall memory was also impaired in ecstasy subjects on the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-II). No extrapyramidal motor impairments were detected.

CONCLUSIONS:
These deficits resemble deficits previously reported in chronic ecstasy use but also seem to reveal transient impairments in executive function. Future research is needed to better understand the neurologic and neuropsychologic implications of ecstasy use across time and extent of use.

One for All and All for One? A Theory of Presidents and Their Parties

by Vidal Romero

Hudson, K.D., & Farran, E.K. (2009). Graphic strategies in Williams syndrome and typically developing children, Cognitive Processing, 10(s2), S514-S155.

by Kerry Hudson

Creative thinking in adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

by Anna Abraham

Creative thinking in schizophrenia: The role of executive dysfunction and symptom severity

by Anna Abraham