Common Executive Function Research Articles

Chronic pain is specifically associated with updating working memory: a longitudinal twin study.

Worse executive function (EF) is associated with chronic pain and could mechanistically contribute to pain chronification. It is unclear whether there is overall impairment in EFs or whether there are impairments in specific cognitive domains. Furthermore, the possible genetic risk underlying these associations has not been tested. Participants were from the Colorado Longitudinal Twin study; 786 same-sex twins completed a battery of EF tasks at ages 23 and/or 28 and 634 of these twins self-reported chronic pain at mean age = 28.1; prevalence = 27.76% using the Brief Pain History Questionnaire. The EF tasks were used to define a Common EF factor and 2 factors specific to updating working memory and shifting mental set. We estimated the phenotypic and genetic associations of stable EF variance across ages 23 and 28, as well as EF variance unique to age 28, with pain. With respect to stable EF variance, pain phenotypically correlated with the Updating-specific factor (r = -0.21, P = 0.008) but did not significantly correlate with the Common EF factor (r = -0.06, P = 0.350) nor with the Shifting-specific factor (r = -0.03, P = 0.709). There were no significant phenotypic correlations between pain and EF variance unique to age 28. A twin model indicated that pain and Updating-specific variance share genetic risk (rA = -0.46, P = 0.005) but not environmental risk (rE = 0.05, P = 0.844). Updating working memory shares a phenotypic and genetic relationship with pain in young adults. Impairments in gating or monitoring pain signals may play a mechanistic role in pain development.

Evidence for response inhibition as a control process distinct from the common executive function: A two-study factor analysis.

The dominant model of executive functions, which has held for over two decades, contends that various aspects of seemingly disparate forms of inhibitory control-for example, inhibiting a prepotent response, or inhibiting irrelevant thoughts and distractions-are in fact manifestations of a single latent executive function. Recent work, however, has cast doubt on this dominant model, as certain conditions can dissociate performance on tasks thought to index inhibitory control. Moreover, issues related to task reliability and latent estimation of inhibition processes have prompted questions about whether the structure of inhibitory control can even be reliably estimated at a latent level. We addressed these issues in two studies of healthy young adults (Study 1 N = 154, Study 2, N = 279), examining seven then 12 different tasks taken by prior research to assess inhibitory control. Contrary to the dominant model of executive functions, we found that, at a latent level, inhibitory control was best fit by a replicable two-factor solution, with response inhibition as a distinct executive function. Further, our data suggested that prior work on executive functions may not have observed a response inhibition factor due to task selections (i.e., including either one of two specific tasks was critical to identifying a separate response inhibition factor). Therefore, contrary to the current primary theoretical model of executive functions, these results suggest that response inhibition is, in fact, a distinct control process from the control process underpinning other forms of inhibition, which has important implications for designing interventions and assessing outcomes related to inhibitory control. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Supplemental Material for Evidence for Response Inhibition as a Control Process Distinct From the Common Executive Function: A Two-Study Factor Analysis

Supplemental Material for Evidence for Response Inhibition as a Control Process Distinct From the Common Executive Function: A Two-Study Factor Analysis

To switch or not to switch? Individual differences in executive function and emotion regulation flexibility.

Emotion regulation (ER) constitutes strategies that modulate the experience and expression of emotions. While past work has predominantly assumed that ER strategies are consistently adaptive (or maladaptive) across situations, recent research has begun to examine individual-difference factors that are associated with the flexible use of ER strategies in line with contextual demands (i.e., ER flexibility). Theoretical accounts maintain that the choice to use ER strategies in a given context is contingent on individual differences in executive function (EF), which refers to a collection of general-purpose regulatory operations. Based on a comprehensive battery of EF tasks, we investigated how the various EF facets (i.e., common EF, working-memory-specific, and shifting-specific factors) are related to the frequency of maintaining and switching ER strategies in response to stimuli that elicit varying levels of emotional intensity. Results indicated that individuals with higher EF demonstrated a more flexible pattern of ER strategy use across high- and low-intensity conditions. Specifically, better working-memory-specific ability (i.e., manipulating information within a mental workspace) was associated with a greater frequency of reappraisal-to-distraction strategy switching in high-intensity contexts. Furthermore, more proficient common EF (i.e., sustaining relevant goals in the face of competing goals and responses) corresponded to a higher propensity to maintain the use of reappraisal in low-intensity situations. The outcomes of this study offer a first glimpse of the cognitive factors underlying ER flexibility. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Associations between executive functions assessed in different contexts in a genetically informative sample.

Executive functions (EFs) are cognitive functions that help direct goal-related behavior. EFs are usually measured via behavioral tasks assessed in highly controlled laboratory settings under the supervision of a research assistant. Online versions of EF tasks are an increasingly popular alternative to in-lab testing. However, researchers do not have the same control over the testing environment during online EF assessments. To assess the extent to which EFs assessed in-lab and online are related, we used data from the Colorado Online Twin Study (CoTwins; 887 individual twins aged 13.98-19.05) and constructed an Lab Common EF factor and an Online Common EF factor from four EF tasks assessed in-lab and online. The Lab Common and Online Common EF factors were genetically identical (rA = 1.00) but phenotypically separable (r = .77, 95% confidence interval [0.59, 0.94]) indicating that these EF factors have the same genetic underpinnings but may be differentially influenced by environmental factors. We examined phenotypic, genetic, and environmental correlations between the EF factors and a general cognitive ability factor (g) assessed in the lab and found similar relationships between Lab Common EF and g and Online Common EF and g. Overall, these results suggest that Common EF factors assessed in different contexts are highly related to each other and similarly related to other cognitive outcomes. These findings indicate that online task-based EF assessments could be a viable strategy for increasing sample sizes in large-scale studies, particularly genetically informed studies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Associations among executive function Abilities, free Water, and white matter microstructure in early old age

BackgroundStudies have investigated white matter microstructure in relation to late-life cognitive impairments, with fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) measures thought to capture demyelination and axonal degradation. However, new post-processing methods allow isolation of free water (FW), which captures extracellular fluid contributions such as atrophy and neuroinflammation, from tissue components. FW also appears to be highly relevant to late-life cognitive impairment. Here, we evaluated whether executive functions are associated with FW, and FA and MD corrected for FW (FAFWcorr and MDFWcorr). MethodWe examined 489 non-demented men in the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA) at mean age 68. Two latent factors capturing ‘common executive function’ and ‘working-memory specific’ processes were estimated based on 6 tasks. Analyses focused on 11 cortical white matter tracts across three metrics: FW, FAFWcorr, and MDFWcorr. ResultsBetter ‘common executive function’ was associated with lower FW across 9 of the 11 tracts. There were no significant associations with intracellular metrics after false discovery rate correction. Effects also appeared driven by individuals with MCI (13.7% of the sample). Working memory-specific tasks showed some associations with FAFWcorr, including the triangularis portion of the inferior frontal gyrus. There was no evidence that cognitive reserve (i.e., general cognitive ability assessed in early adulthood) moderated these associations between executive function and FW or FA. DiscussionExecutive function abilities in early old age are associated primarily with extracellular fluid (FW) as opposed to white matter (FAFWcorr or MDFWcorr). Moderation analyses suggested cognitive reserve does not play a strong role in these associations, at least in this sample of non-demented men.

Is there a causal relationship between executive function and liability to mental health and substance use? A Mendelian randomization approach.

Poorer performance in tasks testing executive function (EF) is associated with a range of psychopathologies such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety, as well as smoking and alcohol consumption. We used two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization to examine whether these may reflect causal relationships and the direction of causation. We used genome-wide association study summary data (N = 17 310 to 848 460) for a common EF factor score (cEF), schizophrenia, MDD, anxiety, smoking initiation, alcohol consumption, alcohol dependence and cannabis use disorder (CUD). We found evidence of increased cEF on reduced schizophrenia liability (OR = 0.10; CI: 0.05 to 0.19; p-value = 3.43 × 10-12), MDD liability (OR = 0.52; CI: 0.38 to 0.72; p-value = 5.23 × 10-05), drinks per week (β = -0.06; CI: -0.10 to -0.02; p-value = 0.003) and CUD liability (OR = 0.27; CI: 0.12 to 0.61; p-value = 1.58 × 10-03). We also found evidence of increased schizophrenia liability (β = -0.04; CI: -0.04 to -0.03; p-value = 3.25 × 10-27) and smoking initiation on decreased cEF (β = -0.06; CI: -0.09 to -0.03; p-value = 6.11 × 10-05). Our results indicate potential causal relationships between cEF and mental health and substance use. Further studies are required to improve our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of these effects, but our results suggest that EF may be a promising intervention target for mental health and substance use.

Executive functions in primary progressive aphasia: A meta-analysis.

Executive functions (EFs) refer to a set of cognitive processes, specifically shifting, inhibition, updating of working memory, and are involved in the cognitive control of behavior. Conflicting results have been reported regarding impairments of EFs in Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA). We performed a multi-level meta-analysis to confirm whether deficits of EFs exist in this population, focusing on a common EFs composite, and the components shifting, inhibition and updating separately. We included 141 studies that report on 294EFs tasks. The overall mean weighted effect size was large (d=-1,28), indicating poorer EFs in PPA as compared to age-matched cognitively healthy controls. Differences between effect sizes of the EFs components were not significant, indicating all components are affected similarly. Overall, moderator analysis revealed that PPA variant and disease duration were significant moderators of performance, while task modality and years of education were not. The non-fluent/agrammatic PPA and the logopenic PPA variants were similarly affected, but the semantic variant was affected to a lesser extent. We discuss implications for clinical and research settings, and future research.

Promoting Inhibitory Control in Preschool Children Through Music-Movement Activities in the Classroom

ABSTRACT Executive function (EF) is an early cognitive skill that rapidly develops during the preschool years. One of the common EF issues in young children is inhibitory control. This study investigates the impact of music-movement activities on children’s inhibitory control. We designed the music-movement training (MMT) program for preschoolers to practice monitoring and controlling their actions. A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest design was used to investigate the effectiveness of the MMT program on children’s EF. Preschoolers age 4–5 years old were assigned to receive the 45-minute MMT, three times/week, for eight weeks (n = 39; 21 boys, mean age 4.36 ± 0.42 years), or regular classroom activities (n = 40; 17 boys, mean age 4.49 ± 0.29 years). After training, the MMT group showed greater improvement in the performance of inhibitory control tasks as compared to the control group, but showed no significant change in working memory and cognitive flexibility. In conclusion, music-movement activities may be helpful for teachers to enhance inhibitory control in preschool children. We suggest that the preschool curriculum should emphasize more music-movement activities by integrating them into everyday learning activities.

A cognitive neurogenetic approach to uncovering the structure of executive functions

One central mission of cognitive neuroscience is to understand the ontology of complex cognitive functions. We addressed this question with a cognitive neurogenetic approach using a large-scale dataset of executive functions (EFs), whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity, and genetic polymorphisms. We found that the bifactor model with common and shifting-specific components not only was parsimonious but also showed maximal dissociations among the EF components at behavioral, neural, and genetic levels. In particular, the genes with enhanced expression in the middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and the subcallosal cingulate gyrus (SCG) showed enrichment for the common and shifting-specific component, respectively. Finally, High-dimensional mediation models further revealed that the functional connectivity patterns significantly mediated the genetic effect on the common EF component. Our study not only reveals insights into the ontology of EFs and their neurogenetic basis, but also provides useful tools to uncover the structure of complex constructs of human cognition.

Executive functions in mono- and bilingual children: Factor structure and relations with fluid intelligence

The effects of bilingualism on executive functions (EFs) and intelligence are still controversially discussed. Most studies have focused on performance differences without considering the underlying structure of cognitive abilities. Thus, we examined whether the structure of EFs and the relations of EFs with intelligence differ between mono- and bilingual children. A total of 240 elementary school children (mean age = 8 years 6 months; 133 monolinguals and 95 bilinguals) performed two tasks measuring working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and fluid intelligence, respectively. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that one common EF factor provided the best fit to the data in both language groups, indicating that bilingualism is not associated with differences in the EF structure at this age. Moreover, there were no latent performance differences in either EFs or intelligence between mono- and bilingual children. However, we found a stronger relation between a common EF factor and fluid intelligence in bilingual children as compared with monolingual children, implying a closer coupling of EFs and intelligence abilities in bilingual children. This contributes to explaining the previous heterogeneous findings on the task level because more closely coupled cognitive functioning can be slightly beneficial for some tasks and irrelevant or even slightly obstructive for others.

Genome-wide Association Study Shows That Executive Functioning Is Influenced by GABAergic Processes and Is a Neurocognitive Genetic Correlate of Psychiatric Disorders

BackgroundDeficits in executive functions (EFs), cognitive processes that control goal-directed behaviors, are associated with psychopathology and neurologic disorders. Little is known about the molecular bases of individual differences in EFs. Prior candidate gene studies have been underpowered in their search for dopaminergic processes involved in cognitive functioning, and existing genome-wide association studies of EFs used small sample sizes and/or focused on individual tasks that are imprecise measures of EFs. MethodsWe conducted a genome-wide association study of a common EF (cEF) factor score based on multiple tasks in the UK Biobank (n = 427,037 individuals of European descent). ResultsWe found 129 independent genome-wide significant lead variants in 112 distinct loci. cEF was associated with fast synaptic transmission processes (synaptic, potassium channel, and GABA [gamma-aminobutyric acid] pathways) in gene-based analyses. cEF was genetically correlated with measures of intelligence (IQ) and cognitive processing speed, but cEF and IQ showed differential genetic associations with psychiatric disorders and educational attainment. ConclusionsResults suggest that cEF is a genetically distinct cognitive construct that is particularly relevant to understanding the genetic variance in psychiatric disorders.

General and Specific Dimensions of Mood Symptoms Are Associated With Impairments in Common Executive Function in Adolescence and Young Adulthood.

Both unipolar and bipolar depression have been linked with impairments in executive functioning (EF). In particular, mood symptom severity is associated with differences in common EF, a latent measure of general EF abilities. The relationship between mood disorders and EF is particularly salient in adolescence and young adulthood when the ongoing development of EF intersects with a higher risk of mood disorder onset. However, it remains unclear if common EF impairments have associations with specific symptom dimensions of mood pathology such as blunted positive affect, mood instability, or physiological arousal, or if differences in common EF more broadly relate to what is shared across various symptom domains, such as general negative affect or distress. To address this question, bifactor models can be applied to simultaneously examine the shared and unique contributions of particular mood symptom dimensions. However, no studies to our knowledge have examined bifactor models of mood symptoms in relation to measures of common EF. This study examined associations between common EF and general vs. specific symptom dimensions (anhedonia, physiological arousal, and mania) using structural equation modeling in adolescents and young adults with varying severity of mood symptoms (n = 495, ages = 13–25 years, 68.69% female). A General Depression factor capturing shared variance across symptoms statistically predicted lower Common EF. Additionally, a factor specific to physiological arousal was associated with lower Common EF. Anhedonia-specific and Mania-specific factors were not significantly related to Common EF. Altogether, these results indicate that deficits in common EF are driven by, or reflect, general features of mood pathology that are shared across symptom dimensions but are also specifically associated with physiological arousal.

Executive function moderates the effect of reappraisal on life satisfaction: A latent variable analysis.

Emotion regulation strategies, such as reappraisal and suppression, have been shown to dissimilarly affect life satisfaction. Specifically, reappraisal is linked to higher life satisfaction, while suppression is associated with lower life satisfaction. Less is known, however, about the potential moderators of these established relations. Given that reappraisal and suppression are contingent, in part, on executive function (EF), which comprises a group of adaptive, goal-orientated control processes (i.e., inhibitory control, working memory, and shifting), we explored whether different components of EF could moderate the impact of reappraisal and suppression on life satisfaction. Using latent moderated structural equation analyses, we found that the positive contribution of reappraisal to life satisfaction was more pronounced at higher than lower levels of inhibitory control and working memory. Shifting did not moderate the associations of reappraisal and suppression with life satisfaction. Further analyses, however, indicated that the interactive effects of reappraisal with inhibitory control and working memory on life satisfaction were driven primarily by the shared variance among EF constructs (i.e., common EF). Our findings underscore the pivotal role of common EF in moderating the relation of reappraisal with life satisfaction. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF BILINGUALISM ON THE EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS IN FOREIGN SCIENCE

The article analyzes the updated data of meta-analyses of foreign authors dealing with current problems of bilingualism and reveals a number of reasons indicating advantages in the tasks of executive functions in favor of bilingual people. Several researchers have suggested that learning and using a second language requires common executive functions, and many have shown that bilinguals outperform monolinguals in tasks related to these processes. However, recent studies and meta-analyses have questioned whether bilingualism leads to changes in general executive functions. An article by John G. Grundy presents an analysis of 167 independent studies to support the claim of the benefits of bilingualism, excluding random results that would show an equal number of studies in favor of monolinguals than bilinguals. These results cannot be explained by publication bias, publication year, or sample size. Importantly, the analyzed data do not contradict the results regarding the overall size of the effect of bilingualism, and lead to the search for an answer to the question: When do bilinguals outperform monolinguals in performing tasks that involve executive functions?

Common executive function predicts reappraisal ability but not frequency.

Cognitive reappraisal is an emotion-regulation strategy that positively impacts various facets of adaptive functioning (e.g., interpersonal relations, subjective well-being). Although reappraisal implicates cognitive processing, no clear consensus has been reached regarding its cognitive correlates. Therefore, we examined how executive function (EF)-i. e., a group of general-purpose control abilities comprising working memory, inhibition, and shifting-would be associated with task-based reappraisal ability and self-reported reappraisal frequency. Using a latent-variable approach, we found that the shared variance among EF facets (i.e., common EF)-a general goal-management ability that facilitates the activation and maintenance of task-relevant goals-was positively related to reappraisal ability but not reappraisal frequency. However, the three EF components were not uniquely associated with either reappraisal ability or frequency. Further, when EF was conceptualized at the individual-task level, we found inconsistent patterns of associations between EF constituents and reappraisal. This underscores the need to measure all aspects of EF using multiple indicators at the latent-variable level. Our findings provide vital theoretical, methodological, and empirical insights into the cognitive correlates of reappraisal. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Topographical functional correlates of interindividual differences in executive functions in young healthy twins

Executive functions (EF) are a set of higher-order cognitive abilities that enable goal-directed behavior by controlling lower-level operations. In the brain, those functions have been traditionally associated with activity in the Frontoparietal Network, but recent neuroimaging studies have challenged this view in favor of more widespread cortical involvement. In the present study, we aimed to explore whether the network that serves as critical hubs at rest, which we term network reliance, differentiate individuals as a function of their level of EF. Furthermore, we investigated whether such differences are driven by genetic as compared to environmental factors. For this purpose, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data and the behavioral testing of 453 twins from the Colorado Longitudinal Twins Study were analyzed. Separate indices of EF performance were obtained according to a bifactor unity/diversity model, distinguishing between three independent components representing: Common EF, Shifting-specific and Updating-specific abilities. Through an approach of step-wise in silico network lesioning of the individual functional connectome, we show that interindividual differences in EF are associated with different dependencies on neural networks at rest. Furthermore, these patterns show evidence of mild heritability. Such findings add knowledge to the understanding of brain states at rest and their connection with human behavior, and how they might be shaped by genetic influences.

Supplemental Material for Common Executive Function Predicts Reappraisal Ability but Not Frequency

Supplemental Material for Common Executive Function Predicts Reappraisal Ability but Not Frequency

Genetic and environmental influences on executive functions and intelligence in middle childhood.

Executive functions (EFs) and intelligence (IQ) are phenotypically correlated. In twin studies, latent variables for EFs and IQ display moderate to high heritability estimates; however, they show variable genetic correlations in twin studies spanning childhood to middle age. We analyzed data from over 11,000 children (9- to 10-year-olds, including 749 twin pairs) in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study to examine the phenotypic and genetic relations between EFs and IQ in childhood. We identified two EF factors-Common EF and Updating-Specific-which were both related to IQ (rs=0.64-0.81). Common EF and IQ were heritable (53%-67%), and their genetic correlation (rG=0.86) was not significantly different than 1. These results suggest that EFs and IQ are phenotypically but not genetically separable in middle childhood, meaning that this phenotypic separability may be influenced by environmental factors.

Disentangling the effects of smartphone screen time, checking frequency, and problematic use on executive function: A structural equation modelling analysis

The pervasiveness of smartphone engagement among young adults has attracted growing interest regarding its impact on cognitive processes. However, research on the relation between smartphone use and executive function (EF)—a set of adaptive, goal-directed control processes—remains inconclusive due to imprecise estimation of EF dimensions and inconsistent operationalisation of smartphone use in past studies. Therefore, we examined how two indices of smartphone use—screen time and checking frequency—would predict EF (common EF, shifting-specific-, and working-memory-specific components), using a latent-variable approach based on a comprehensive battery of EF tasks. We also examined the moderating role of problematic smartphone use in the link between smartphone use and EF components. We found that screen time positively predicted working-memory-specific and shifting-specific abilities, whereas frequent checking was associated with enhanced shifting-specific, but poorer common EF, abilities. Importantly, problematic smartphone use moderated the relation between checking frequency and common EF. Overall, our findings demonstrate that different indices of smartphone use asymmetrically predict EF facets, thereby highlighting the construct distinctiveness of the various markers of smartphone engagement. Our findings imply that checking frequency and problematic use, rather than screen time, are the most promising targets for interventions that aim to circumvent cognitive impairments by curtailing smartphone use, especially in educational settings.