Emergence Of Executive Function Research Articles

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Problematic Romantic Relationships in Adulthood: A Review of the Literature

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prominent neurodevelopmental disorders worldwide. Although viewed as a childhood behavioural disorder, longitudinal research has shown that ADHD symptoms frequently persist into adolescence and adulthood. Although previously overshadowed in the research literature, more attention is now being given to the connection between ADHD and romantic relationships in adults. This inattention can be attributed to the prioritization of child and adolescent populations and the emphasis on psychoeducational, cognitive, and behavioural problems. However, with the emergence of executive function (EF) models, more researchers are exploring the breadth of possible ADHD-related problems. In the past five years especially, studies have been pursuing the relational and emotional challenges faced by those with ADHD and their partners. Given the prevalence and extent of ADHD-related challenges, it is vital to identify how relationship problems emerge and provide effectivepsychosocial coping strategies for romantic partners to mitigate relationship dissatisfaction and turnover. This literature review evaluates research studies on ADHD and romantic relationships by exploring factors such as divorce rates, marital satisfaction, relationship length, negative emotions and habits, and distinctions between ADHD subtypes. This analysis identifies potential gaps in the literature and problems concerning replicability, generalizability, and sample representation in ADHD-related research studies. It then concludes by providing intervention suggestions for those involved in ADHD relationships.

Association Between Early Amino Acid Intake and Full-Scale IQ at Age 5 Years Among Infants Born at Less Than 30 Weeks’ Gestation

An international expert committee recently revised its recommendations on amino acid intake for very preterm infants, suggesting that more than 3.50 g/kg/d should be administered only to preterm infants in clinical trials. However, the optimal amino acid intake during the first week after birth in these infants is unknown. To evaluate the association between early amino acid intake and cognitive outcomes at age 5 years. Using the EPIPAGE-2 (Epidemiologic Study on Small-for-Gestational-Age Children-Follow-up at Five and a Half Years) cohort, a nationwide prospective population-based cohort study conducted at 63 neonatal intensive care units in France, a propensity score-matched analysis was performed comparing infants born at less than 30 weeks' gestation who had high amino acid intake (3.51-4.50 g/kg/d) at 7 days after birth with infants who did not. Participants were recruited between April 1 and December 31, 2011, and followed up from September 1, 2016, to December 31, 2017. Full-scale IQ (FSIQ) was assessed at age 5 years. A confirmatory analysis used neonatal intensive care unit preference for high early amino acid intake as an instrumental variable to account for unmeasured confounding. Statistical analysis was performed from January 15 to May 15, 2021. Amino acid intake at 7 days after birth. The primary outcome was an FSIQ score greater than -1 SD (ie, ≥93 points) at age 5 years. A complementary analysis was performed to explore the association between amino acid intake at day 7 as a continuous variable and FSIQ score at age 5 years. Data from cerebral magnetic resonance imaging at term were available for a subgroup of preterm infants who participated in the EPIRMEX (Cerebral Abnormalities Detected by MRI, Realized at the Age of Term and the Emergence of Executive Functions) ancillary study. Among 1789 preterm infants (929 boys [51.9%]; mean [SD] gestational age, 27.17 [1.50] weeks) with data available to determine exposure to amino acid intake of 3.51 to 4.50 g/kg/d at 7 days after birth, 938 infants were exposed, and 851 infants were not; 717 infants from each group could be paired. The primary outcome was known in 396 of 646 exposed infants and 379 of 644 nonexposed infants who were alive at age 5 years and was observed more frequently among exposed vs nonexposed infants (243 infants [61.4%] vs 206 infants [54.4%], respectively; odds ratio [OR], 1.33 [95% CI, 1.00-1.71]; absolute risk increase in events [ie, the likelihood of having an FSIQ score >-1 SD at age 5 years] per 100 infants, 7.01 [95% CI, 0.06-13.87]; P = .048). In the matched cohort, correlation was found between amino acid intake per 1.00 g/kg/d at day 7 and FSIQ score at age 5 years (n = 775; β = 2.43 per 1-point increase in FSIQ; 95% CI, 0.27-4.59; P = .03), white matter area (n = 134; β = 144 per mm2; 95% CI, 3-285 per mm2; P = .045), anisotropy of the corpus callosum (n = 50; β = 0.018; 95% CI, 0.016-0.021; P < .001), left superior longitudinal fasciculus (n = 42; β = 0.018; 95% CI, 0.010-0.025; P < .001), and right superior longitudinal fasciculus (n = 42; β = 0.014 [95% CI, 0.005-0.024; P = .003) based on magnetic resonance imaging at term. Confirmatory and sensitivity analyses confirmed these results. For example, the adjusted OR for the association between the exposure and the primary outcome was 1.30 (95% CI, 1.16-1.46) using the instrumental variable approach among 978 participants in the overall cohort, and the adjusted OR was 1.35 (95% CI, 1.05-1.75) using multiple imputations among 1290 participants in the matched cohort. In this cohort study, high amino acid intake at 7 days after birth was associated with an increased likelihood of an FSIQ score greater than -1 SD at age 5 years. Well-designed randomized studies with long-term follow-up are needed to confirm the benefit of this nutritional approach.

Preschool Executive Functioning and Child Behavior: Association with Learning Prerequisites?

Preschool age is a golden period for the emergence of executive functions (EFs) that, in turn, predict learning and adaptive behavior throughout all life. The study was aimed to identify which EFs measures significantly explained the learning prerequisites and the mediation role of self-regulatory and executive behavior recorded in structured or free settings. One hundred and twenty-seven preschoolers were remotely assessed by standardized tests of response inhibition, working memory, control of interference, and cognitive flexibility. Teachers provided a global measure of learning prerequisites by an observational questionnaire. Self-regulatory behavior during the assessment was evaluated by a rating scale filled by the examiners. Executive function behavior in daily life was measured by a questionnaire filled by parents. Accuracy in tasks of response inhibition and working memory explained about 48% of the variability in learning prerequisites while response speed and accuracy in the control of interference and in cognitive flexibility were not significant. EFs also had indirect effects, mediated by the child’s self-regulatory behavior evaluated during the assessment but not in daily life. The results are interpreted with respect to the contribution of the main EF components to school readiness and the mediation of the child behavior as measured in structure contexts.

The emergence of executive functions by the evolution of second-order learning

Mental representation (MR) is regarded as part of sophisticated cognitive processes. It has been argued that under selection pressure for second-order learning (learning how to learn), first-order learning evolves to facilitate second-order learning within lifetime by capturing inherent structures of changing environment as MR. Two hypotheses derive from this theory: (1) solving MR-dependent tasks should involve second-order plasticity at the neural level. (2) Solving MR-dependent tasks should involve internalization of structural features of environment into corresponding features of the cognitive system. In this paper, constructive approach was taken and the result was analyzed from the viewpoint of these two hypotheses. Executive functions, a collection of cognitive processes necessary for good performance on complex tasks, are the theme of our model. They are considered to be related to theory of mind, which is a typical example of MR. We conducted an evolutionary simulation where agents with recurrent neural networks tackled the Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST), a widely used task to measure abilities of executive functions. The results showed some agents were successfully able to achieve ideal scores in the WCST, hence the emergence of executive functions. In addition, we also discussed the hypotheses based on one of the evolved neural networks.

The development of executive function

Executive function is a group of the higher-order cognitive abilities that coordinate and monitor other abilities and behavior. As complex cognitive functio­ning is primarily attributed to adults, executive function in children has rarely been studied. However, research of executive function from the perspective of develo­pmental psychology and psychopathology has become more frequent in recent decade. Several findings have attributed to this change, the discovery of an intriguing connection between children’s executive function and theory of mind among them. Several reviews have been published in the field, providing the detailed developmental map of most often studied components of executive function (Garon et al., 2008; Best et al., 2009). However, they touch less on the broader context of executive function development. The aim of this review paper is to discuss the main findings, new trends and unanswered questions associated with developmental research in executive function, hoping this will stimulate Lithuanian psychologists become more involved in the field.We start the first part of the paper by discussing the difficulties in developmental research of executive function associated with the theoretical ambiguity of the construct and methodological problems. Most authors have focused to three main executive functions in recent years: mental set shifting, working memory updating and response inhibition. However, none of the neuropsychological tests measure isolated component of executive function, which makes the interpretation of the findings complicated. Studying executive function in young children at least partly addresses this problem, as the neuropsychological tasks are less complex, so more “pure” in this group. We briefly describe the developmental trends of main executive functions, concluding that the development of these abilities starts as early as the first year of life, undergoes the biggest changes in preschool years and continues till late childhood and even adulthood. We finally outline the importance of studying psychosocial context of the development of executive function. There is evidence that early social interaction may affect the development of executive function (Bibok et al., 2009; Bernier et al., 2010), but much remains to be done to better understand the mechanisms of the development of these functions. The second part of the paper is devoted to the connection between the development of executive function and theory of mind. There are four main proofs of this connection: 1) positive correlation between the executive function and theory of mind test results; 2) matching developmental paths of these two psychic functions; 3) matching brain regions; 4) disorders of both psychic functions in case of psycho­pathology (autism disorder in particular). Although the connection between executive function and theory of mind development is well documented, little is known about the nature and direction of this connection. The most prominent hypothesis is that executive function development stimulates the emergence of executive function (Carlson et al., 2004; Hughes and Ensor, 2007), but alternative explanations exist. We suggest that the explanations taking into account the social context of the development of both psychic functions should be considered.

Children's executive functions: Are they poorer after very early brain insult

Traditionally early brain insult (EBI) has been considered to have better outcome than later injury, consistent with the notion that the young brain is flexible and able to reorganize. Recent research findings question this view, suggesting that EBI might lead to poorer outcome than brain insult at any other age. Exploring this early vulnerability perspective, we investigated whether skills developing later in childhood, for example, executive functions (EF), would be at greater risk of disruption from EBI. The aim of this study was to investigate EF in children sustaining EBI at different developmental stages. We expected that brain insult during gestation and infancy, before the emergence of EF, would lead to global EF deficits. In contrast, we predicted that brain injury in late childhood would have fewer consequences. Using a cross-sectional, retrospective, group design we compared six groups of children (Total N = 164), with a history of brain insult and documented focal brain pathology, aged 10–16 years on a range of measures of EF. Groups were based on age of EBI: (1) Congenital; (2) Peri-natal; (3) Infancy; (4) Preschool; (5) Middle Childhood; and (6) Late Childhood. Children with EBI were at increased risk for impairment across all aspects of EF. Presence of seizures and/or frontal pathology were not predictive of outcome, but age at insult was. Children sustaining EBI before age 3 recorded more global and severe EF deficits, while children with later EBI performed closer to normal expectations. With the exception of attentional control, skills emerging at time of insult were found to be more vulnerable to disruption than those previously established, supporting the ‘early vulnerability’ model for EBI.