Abstract
Enabling the ceasing of ongoing or prepotent responses and the controlling of interference, motor inhibition facilitates the development of executive functions (EFs) such as thought before action, decision-making, self-regulation of affect, motivation, and arousal. In the current paper, a characterization is offered of the relationship between motor inhibition and the executive functioning system, in the context of a proposed division into predominantly affective (hot) and cognitive (cool) components corresponding to neural trajectories originating in the prefrontal cortex. This division is central to understanding the effects of a specifically-structured sensorimotor movement training practice, known as Quadrato Motor Training (QMT), on hot and cool EFs. QMT’s effects on crucial mechanisms of integrating different EF components are discussed.
Highlights
Motor and cognitive development’s close relationship (Sibley and Etnier, 2003; Pesce et al, 2016; Stein et al, 2017) is exemplified by the role of motor inhibition in the development of executive functions (EFs) (Hammond et al, 2012)
Benefits appear to result from the combination, as evidenced by physical activity research indicating that more effective improvement in executive functioning resulted from combined cognitive, physical, and emotional engagement, than on cognitive stimulation or physical activity alone (Pesce, 2012; Tomporowski and Pesce, 2019)
Quadrato Motor Training (QMT)’s requirement of smoothly executed goal-directed behaviors in response to predetermined verbal instructions separated by interstimulus intervals (ISIs), which are known to increase the duration of attention (Leckart et al, 1970), differentiates it from other mindful movement practices (Ben-Soussan et al, 2019)
Summary
Motor and cognitive development’s close relationship (Sibley and Etnier, 2003; Pesce et al, 2016; Stein et al, 2017) is exemplified by the role of motor inhibition in the development of executive functions (EFs) (Hammond et al, 2012). The interrelationship between motor and cognitive functions is further reflected by their simultaneous neuronal activation during complex or novel tasks requiring fast reactions or changing conditions (Diamond, 2000; Koziol et al, 2014; Leisman et al, 2016; Stein et al, 2017) This mini-review characterizes the relationship between motor inhibition and EFs in the context of a proposed division into predominantly affective and cognitive components. Patients with specific brain damage (e.g., orbitofrontal cortex) may show intact cool EFs (assessed by classical tests such as the WCST) but impaired hot EFs (assessed by tests like “the Iowa gambling task” (e.g., Bechara et al, 1994) or vice versa (Zelazo and Carlson, 2012) This functional distinction may reflect a structural one, as neural systems underlying EFs appear to vary as a function of motivation. If neural circuitry is damaged due to extrinsic injury, resulting behaviors can reflect earlier stages of EF development; such clinical expressions generally include disruption in both hot and cool EFs, such as deficits in delay gratification, inability to anticipate consequences, and verbal and behavioral disinhibition (Zelazo and Carlson, 2012)
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