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Previous studies have shown that aerobic exercise has beneficial effects on executive function in adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The underlying mechanisms could be partially due to aerobic exercise-induced cortical excitability modulation. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of acute aerobic exercise on executive functions and cortical excitability and the association between these phenomena in adolescents with ADHD. The study was conducted using a complete crossover design. Executive functions (inhibitory control, working memory, and planning) and cortical excitability were assessed in twenty-four drug-naïve adolescents with ADHD before and after acute aerobic exercise or a control intervention. Inhibitory control, working memory, and planning improved after acute aerobic exercise in adolescents with ADHD. Moreover, cortical excitability monitored by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) decreased after intervention in this population. Additionally, improvements in inhibitory control and working memory performance were associated with enhanced cortical inhibition. The findings provide indirect preliminary evidence for the assumption that changes in cortical excitability induced by aerobic exercise partially contribute to improvements in executive function in adolescents with ADHD., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that there are no competing financial interests., (© 2024. Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Children with metopic synostosis have been found to have more neurocognitive and behavioral difficulties. The variables that may affect future neurodevelopmental outcomes, including presenting morphologic severity, have not been fully studied. In the largest study to date, we aimed to assess what portends worse neurocognitive and behavioral outcomes at school age., Methods: Children 6-18 years old with surgically corrected metopic nonsyndromic craniosynostosis underwent neurocognitive testing. Parents completed behavior rating surveys about their child: Conners-3 (ADHD), Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (autism spectrum disorder), Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-2 (BRIEF-2: executive function), and Child's Behavior Checklist (overall behavior). The endocranial bifrontal angle (EBA), adjusted EBA (aEBA), frontal angle (FA), and AI-derived metopic severity score (MSS) were determined on pre-operative CT images. Multivariate linear regressions were used to evaluate the association of age at surgery and severity., Results: There were 87 children who underwent neurocognitive testing (average age 10.9 ± 3.3 years) of whom 67 also completed behavioral assessments. Greater phenotypical severity of metopic synostosis (lower FA, aEBA, and EBA) was associated with worse scores on the subscales of the BRIEF-2 (executive function) and executive subscale of the Conners-3. Increasing age at surgery was associated with worse executive function subscale scores of the Conners-3 when controlling for each severity measurement and sociodemographic risk., Conclusion: Children with greater phenotypic severity of metopic synostosis have worse executive function at school age. The majority of children with metopic synostosis have signs of ADHD. Later surgeries (greater than 12 months) may impact executive functioning, regardless of the degree of severity. Future research should aim at identifying the direct structural changes to the brain., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by the Yale University Institutional Review Board. (HIC# 0804003650). Consent to participate: All participants’ informed assent and informed consent were obtained by legal guardians. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work. Disclaimer: Dr. Alperovich receives funding from CTSA Grant Number KL2 TR001862 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and consults for Johnson & Johnson and LifeNet Health. No funding was received for this work. The manuscript contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of NIH., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated depression, anxiety, and executive function (EF) difficulties in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). EF skills have been positively associated with mental health outcomes. Here, we probed the psychosocial impacts of pandemic responses in children with and without ASD by relating pre-pandemic EF assessments with anxiety and depression symptoms several months into the pandemic. We found that pre-pandemic inhibition and shifting difficulties, measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, predicted higher risk of anxiety symptoms. These findings are critical for promoting community recovery and maximizing clinical preparedness to support children at increased risk for adverse psychosocial outcomes., (© 2023. This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.)

Executive functioning (EF) deficits, such as challenges with planning, organization, and materials management, negatively impact academic performance, particularly for middle-school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) without intellectual disability (ID). The aim was to assess the initial efficacy of the school-based version of the Achieving Independence and Mastery in School (AIMS) intervention in a pilot randomized clinical trial. 47 autistic middle-schoolers without ID attending nine different schools were randomized to participate in AIMS or to wait to receive AIMS the following semester (waitlist control = WLC). Youth, caregivers, and teachers rated academic EFs and academic functioning, and youth completed an objective EF measure, at baseline and outcome (post). Effect sizes were computed comparing baseline and post measures within each group. Individuals randomized to AIMS improved from baseline to post on academic EF outcome measures with small to moderate effect sizes, compared to WLC, who made some improvements but with generally smaller effect sizes. Analyses with academic functioning measures showed a similar pattern of results. These promising results suggest that AIMS delivered in the school by school-based personnel to small groups of students with ASD without ID can improve academic EF skills., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Children's self-care ability (SCA) is a very important part of early development and school readiness. Previous studies have shown that parenting style is essential factor that influence young children's SCA. However, much less is known about the association between different types of parenting styles and children's SCA, let alone the moderating role of executive function (EF)., Methods: This study used measures such as parenting style, EF and SCA to survey children (N = 482) aged 3-7 years old and their parents., Results: The results indicated that democratic parenting style was positively correlated with children's SCA, while other parenting styles were negatively correlated with children's SCA. Moreover, with the exception of inconsistent parenting style and authoritarian parenting style, the predictive effect of parenting styles on young children's SCA is moderated by young children's EF: Democratic parenting styles and children's SCA were significantly and positively correlated when children's EF was high rather than low; coddling and permissive parenting styles and children's SCA were significantly and negatively correlated when children's EF was high rather than low., Conclusions: These findings suggest that democratic parenting styles are effective in promoting the development of SCA in children with high EF., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Adaptive behaviour refers to the practical skills necessary for independence and is considered a high-priority intervention target for children with neurogenetic conditions associated with intellectual disability, like Down syndrome (DS). Daily living skills (DLS) are a critical aspect of adaptive behaviour, but they have received little intervention attention, possibly because they involve a wide variety of skills across many settings. The present study aimed to advance DLS intervention science by examining the concurrent and longitudinal association between DLS performances and a cognitive skillset hypothesised to support DLS skill acquisition, executive function (EF)., Methods: Participants were 71 children with DS between the ages of 2.5 and 8.7 years (M = 5.23 years; standard deviation = 1.65) who completed a battery of adapted EF tasks and a primary caregiver who completed the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales 3rd Edition Parent/Caregiver Comprehensive Report Form. A subset of caregivers also provided 6- and 12-month follow-up adaptive behaviour information., Results: Results demonstrated a positive association between EF task performance and DLS standard scores and v-scores both concurrently and longitudinally., Conclusions: The findings have implications for potential future intervention approaches that aim to strengthen DLS performances by advancing EF skills in this population., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Intellectual Disability Research published by John Wiley & Sons and MENCAP.)

The present study aimed to examine whether Mandarin-speaking children on the autism spectrum showed differences in comprehending spatial demonstratives ("this" and "that", and "here" and "there"), as compared to typically developing (TD) children. Another aim of this study was to investigate the roles of theory of mind (ToM) and executive functions (EF) in the comprehension of spatial demonstratives. Twenty-seven autistic children (mean age 6.86) and 27 receptive-vocabulary-matched TD children (mean age 5.82) were recruited. Demonstrative comprehension was assessed based on participants' ability to place objects in certain locations according to experimenters' instructions which involved these demonstratives in three different conditions (same-, opposite-, and spectator-perspective conditions). Four false-belief tasks were administered to measure ToM, and the word-span task and the dimensional change card sort task were used to measure two subcomponents of EF - working memory and mental flexibility - respectively. Children on the autism spectrum were found to score below TD children in the comprehension of spatial demonstratives. In addition, the results showed that ToM and working memory were conducive to the correct interpretation of spatial demonstratives. The two cognitive abilities mutually influenced their respective roles in spatial demonstrative comprehension in the three different conditions. The findings suggest that the comprehension of spatial demonstratives comprehension is an area of need in Mandarin-speaking children on the autism spectrum, and it might be linked to their differences in cognitive abilities., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis show impairment in executive function (EF). However, findings are mixed regarding differences in the age effect on EF between autistic individuals and persons with typical development (TD). Questions remain regarding whether the age-related trajectories of EF in ASD are the same as or different from those in TD. To bridge this knowledge gap, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analyses of longitudinal studies that compared age-related changes in EF between ASD and TD groups (preregistration: osf.io/j5764). A literature search was conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science on January 29, 2024. After screening by two independent reviewers, 14 longitudinal studies were included. Random-effects meta-analyses of studies involving a maximum total of 518 autistic and 3558 TD children and adolescents (mean baseline ages: 5.7-12.0 years) showed that ASD had significantly poorer EF than TD at both baseline and follow-up. However, there was no significant group difference in the age-related change in EF across domains, including working memory, inhibition, shifting, and planning. Robust Bayesian meta-analyses also provided substantial evidence in favor of the null hypothesis that ASD and TD groups showed similar changes over time for most EF processes. Limitations of the literature included the limited number of longitudinal studies and a narrow range of developmental stages and EF constructs analyzed across studies. Altogether, these findings suggest that autistic children and adolescents generally can improve in EF over time similarly to their neurotypical peers. This has important implications for parents and educators, encouraging appropriate EF training and intervention for autistic children and adolescents at an early stage., (© 2024 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

In this Monograph, we explored neurocognitive predictors of executive function (EF) development in a cohort of children followed longitudinally from 30 to 54 months of age. We tested predictions of a dynamic field model that explains development in a benchmark measure of EF development, the dimensional change card sort (DCCS) task. This is a rule-use task that measures children's ability to switch between sorting cards by shape or color rules. A key developmental mechanism in the model is that dimensional label learning drives EF development. Data collection began in February 2019 and was completed in April 2022 on the Knoxville campus of the University of Tennessee. Our cohort included 20 children (13 female) all of whom were White (not Hispanic/Latinx) from an urban area in southern United States, and the sample annual family income distribution ranged from low to high (most families falling between $40,000 and 59,000 per year (note that we address issues of generalizability and the small sample size throughout the monograph)). We tested the influence of dimensional label learning on DCCS performance by longitudinally assessing neurocognitive function across multiple domains at 30 and 54 months of age. We measured dimensional label learning with comprehension and production tasks for shape and color labels. Simple EF was measured with the Simon task which required children to respond to images of a cat or dog with a lateralized (left/right) button press. Response conflict was manipulated in this task based on the spatial location of the stimulus which could be neutral (central), congruent, or incongruent with the spatial lateralization of the response. Dimensional understanding was measured with an object matching task requiring children to generalize similarity between objects that matched within the dimensions of color or shape. We first identified neural measures associated with performance and development on each of these tasks. We then examined which of these measures predicted performance on the DCCS task at 54 months. We measured neural activity with functional near-infrared spectroscopy across bilateral frontal, temporal, and parietal cortices. Our results identified an array of neurocognitive mechanisms associated with development within each domain we assessed. Importantly, our results suggest that dimensional label learning impacts the development of EF. Neural activation in left frontal cortex during dimensional label production at 30 months of age predicted EF performance at 54 months of age. We discussed these results in the context of efforts to train EF with broad transfer. We also discussed a new autonomy-centered EF framework. The dynamic field model on which we have motivated the current research makes decisions autonomously and various factors can influence the types of decisions that the model makes. In this way, EF is a property of neurocognitive dynamics, which can be influenced by individual factors and contextual effects. We also discuss how this conceptual framework can generalize beyond the specific example of dimensional label learning and DCCS performance to other aspects of EF and how this framework can help to understand how EF unfolds in unique individual, cultural, and contextual factors. Measures of EF during early childhood are associated with a wide range of development outcomes, including academic skills and quality of life. The hope is that broad aspects of development can be improved by implementing interventions aimed at facilitating EF development. However, this promise has been largely unrealized. Previous work on EF development has been limited by a focus on EF components, such as inhibition, working memory, and switching. Similarly, intervention research has focused on practicing EF tasks that target these specific components of EF. While performance typically improves on the practiced task, improvement rarely generalizes to other EF tasks or other developmental outcomes. The current work is unique because we looked beyond EF itself to identify the lower-level learning processes that predict EF development. Indeed, the results of this study identify the first learning mechanism involved in the development of EF. Although the work here provides new targets for interventions in future work, there are also important limitations. First, our sample is not representative of the underlying population of children in the United States under the age of 5. This is a problem in much of the existing developmental cognitive neuroscience research. We discussed challenges to the generalizability of our findings to the population at large. This is particularly important given that our theory is largely contextual, suggesting that children's unique experiences with learning labels for visual dimensions will impact EF development. Second, we identified a learning mechanism to target in future intervention research; however, it is not clear whether such interventions would benefit all children or how to identify children who would benefit most from such interventions. We also discuss prospective lines of research that can address these limitations, such as targeting families that are typically underrepresented in research, expanding longitudinal studies to examine longer term outcomes such as school-readiness and academic skills, and using the dynamic field (DF) model to systematically explore how exposure to objects and labels can optimize the neural representations underlying dimensional label learning. Future work remains to understand how such learning processes come to define the contextually and culturally specific skills that emerge over development and how these skills lay the foundation for broad developmental trajectories., (© 2024 The Author(s). Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development © 2024 Society for Research in Child Development.)

In genetic syndromes such as Down syndrome (DS) and Williams syndrome (WS), difficulties with executive functioning (EF) are a commonly reported feature and a key correlate of long-term success in everyday life. Despite a robust literature in children with these syndromes, it remains unclear how cross-syndrome characteristics of everyday EF relate to adaptive functioning and intelligence among adults with DS and WS, and if these relationships differ between these groups. This study aimed to characterise the profile of strengths and weaknesses in everyday EF using the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Informant Version (BRIEF-A) in older adolescents and young adults with DS and WS. Associations between distinct EFs, adaptive/maladaptive functioning, and intellectual ability were also investigated. Results showed that the WS group displayed profound impairments in almost all BRIEF-A scales, with a large percentage of scores in the clinically significant range. Further, selective EFs (Inhibit, Organisation of Materials, Task Monitor) were able to discriminate between the two genetic syndromes. Contrary to previous research, in WS, Working Memory was linked to adaptive functioning and IQ. In DS, the Task-Monitor and Shift scales were unique predictors of externalising and internalising behaviours, respectively. These findings could have important implications for targeted cognitive interventions in these genetic syndromes., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Favorable behavioral interactions are critical for academic and interpersonal success. An association between metopic synostosis and behavioral impairments has not been fully elucidated. Behavioral dysfunction in school-age children with surgically corrected metopic synostosis was evaluated using targeted testing to detect the most common behavioral abnormalities in this population., Methods: Parents of children 6 to 18 years of age with metopic synostosis completed the Conners Rating Scales, 3rd edition (Short Form) (Conners-3; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), Social Responsiveness Scale, 2nd edition (SRS-2; autism spectrum disorder), Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, 2nd edition (executive functioning), and Child's Behavioral Checklist (behavioral/emotional functioning). Children also completed neurocognitive testing. Multivariable regression was used to determine predictors of clinically significant behavioral impairments., Results: Sixty children were enrolled. Average age at surgery was 9.2 ± 7.9 months, with an average age at assessment of 10.3 ± 3.5 years. Nearly half of patients demonstrated symptoms associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, demonstrated by reaching or exceeding borderline clinical levels for inattention and hyperactivity subscales of the Conners-3. Greater age at surgery was associated with worse executive function, measured by reaching or exceeding clinically significant levels of the executive function subscale of the Conners-3 ( P = 0.04) and subscales of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, 2nd edition (Behavioral Regulator Index [ P = 0.05], Cognitive Regulatory Index [ P = 0.03], and Global Executive Composite [ P = 0.04])., Conclusions: Nearly half of patients with surgically corrected metopic synostosis reached borderline clinical scores for inattention and hyperactivity. Older age at surgery was associated with worse executive function. Prompt surgical correction of metopic synostosis may portend improved long-term emotional and behavioral function., Clinical Question/level of Evidence: Therapeutic, III., (Copyright © 2023 by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.)

Background and Purpose: Dual-task walking is challenging for people with Parkinson disease (PD). Gait performance worsens while executing dual tasks, possibly due to a decline in executive function (EF). This study aimed to investigate the effects of dual-task training on EF and dual-task cost (DTC) in people with PD and to explore whether training-induced changes in EF were associated with changes in DTC., Methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial. A total of 28 people with PD participated. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group (dual-task training) and the control group (treadmill training). Both groups received a total of 16 training sessions during the 8 weeks. Assessments were conducted at baseline and postintervention. Primary outcomes included EF and dual-task cost., Results: Significant time-by-group interactions were found in executive function and DTC. The experimental group showed significant improvement in frontal assessment battery (FAB), trail-making test (TMT) part A, Stroop color and word test (SCWT), and DTC on speed in cognitive dual-task walking. There was a moderate to high correlation between the change values of the FAB, TMT part A, SCWT, and the change values of DTC in cognitive dual-task walking., Discussion and Conclusions: Compared to treadmill training, dual-task training resulted in greater improvements in EF and DTC. Training-induced changes in EF were linked to changes in DTC when walking while performing a cognitive task but not when walking while performing a motor task., Video Abstract: For more insights from the authors Supplemental Digital Content available at http://links.lww.com/JNPT/A485., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy, APTA.)

Background: Evidence from toxicological studies indicate organophosphate esters (OPEs) are neurotoxic, but few epidemiological studies investigated associations between gestational OPEs and executive function., Objective: To examine the associations between gestational concentrations of OPE urinary metabolites and executive function at 12 years., Methods: We used data from 223 mother-adolescent dyads from the Health Outcomes of Measures of the Environment (HOME) Study. Women provided spot urine samples at 16 weeks gestation, 26 weeks gestation, and at delivery for quantification of bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate, bis-2-chloroethyl phosphate (BCEP), diphenyl phosphate (DPHP), and di-n-butyl phosphate (DNBP). Executive function was assessed at age 12 years using the parent- and self-report Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF2). Covariate-adjusted associations between specific gravity-corrected OPEs and BRIEF2 scores were estimated using multiple informant models. Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) was used to assess the impact of all OPEs simultaneously., Results: Parent- and self-report BRIEF2 indices and composite scores were weakly to moderately correlated (r s  = 0.32-0.41). A natural-log unit increase in BCEP at 26 weeks was associated with approximately a 1-point increase on the self-report Cognitive Regulation Index [CRI] (95% CI 0.4, 2.3), the Emotion Regulation Index [ERI] (95% CI 0.3, 2.2), and the Global Executive Composite [GEC] (95% CI 0.4, 2.2), indicating poorer performance. Higher DPHP at 16 weeks was associated with lower parent-report GEC score (β = -1.1, 95% CI -2.3, -0.003). BKMR identified BCEP and DNBP at 26 weeks as important contributors to CRI and ERI, respectively., Conclusion: OPE metabolites during gestational development, particularly BCEP, may influence adolescent executive function. However, since the FDR p-values failed to reach statistical significance, additional studies would benefit from using larger cohorts., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Ann M Vuong reports financial support was provided by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Bruce Lanphear reports financial support was provided by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Aimin Chen reports financial support was provided by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Kimberly Yolton reports financial support was provided by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Joseph Bruan reports financial support was provided by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Kim Cecil reports financial support was provided by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Aimin Chen reports financial support was provided by Environmental Protection Agency. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Cognitively combined/engaged physical activity (CC/CE-PA) has been used as an intervention for children/adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)., Method: This review aimed to quantify the effects of CC/CE-PAs on enhancing executive and physical function and alleviating ADHD symptoms in children/adolescents with ADHD. An extensive literature search of online databases identified 32 studies (75 % high-quality studies), of which 22 (pooled n=968) were included in the meta-analysis., Results: The included studies covered five PA types with varying intervention periods, frequencies, and exercise durations. The CC/CE-PAs showed an overall significant effect on improving executive function (standardized mean difference [SMD]: 1.10) and motor competence (SMD: 0.52) and alleviating ADHD symptoms (SMD: -0.75). Program design and participants' medication status were found to significantly moderate the effect of CC/CE-PA., Conclusion: More evidence is needed to support the effect of CC/CE-PA by comparing it with other interventions and using a rigorous experimental design., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest All authors declared no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Neuromotor disorders can degrade one's ability to locomote and attend to salient stimuli in the environment. Many disorders are physiologically complex, making it difficult to tease apart interactions between motor adaptation and executive function processes. We address this challenge by giving participants a controlled artificial impairment, using electrical stimulation to produce an uncomfortable disruption in normal muscular coordination during locomotion. While adapting to this gait perturbation, participants performed an executive function task containing neutral and affectively charged stimuli. The artificial impairment was counterbalanced against control and sham (discomfort-only stimulation) walking conditions. Our twofold hypothesis that discomfort would selectively tax hot, emotionally charged executive function and motor adaptation would challenge cold, logical executive function was not supported. However, we found that the discomfort experienced with both stimulation conditions improved participants' ability to inhibit distracting information, enhancing this aspect of executive function, and the effect did not depend on whether the task was affectively charged. Moderate discomfort during physical activity may have improved inhibitory control by increasing arousal, a known factor mediating executive function. These results show that using a sensorimotor perturbation that acts internally and bridges multiple physiological domains, including discomfort, can reveal effects not seen with purely environmental manipulations. The broader implications are that when high cognitive performance is needed during physical activity, it may be beneficial to, quite literally, operate outside one's comfort zone. NEW & NOTEWORTHY When locomotor and cognitive tasks compete for shared neural resources, cognitive-motor interference may impair performance in both domains. To understand how impairments that cause pain or change neuromotor control impact cognition during locomotion, we gave healthy adults an uncomfortable, artificial neuromuscular impairment while they walked and completed a task dependent on ignoring distracting stimuli. We found that discomfort enhanced participants' ability to ignore distractions, providing new insight into the mediators of cognition during impaired movement.

Background: The deterioration of executive function is a hallmark of cognitive aging. Reports indicate that signs of decline in executive function begin to emerge as early as middle age. Aerobic exercise improves executive function in healthy middle-aged and older adults, but the optimal exercise prescription variables are still unclear., Objective: To investigate the effects of aerobic exercise on executive function of healthy middle-aged and older adults and explore the dose-response relationship and moderators., Methods: We conducted comprehensive searches of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO, and SPORTDiscus for English literature, and CNKI, WanFang, and VIP for Chinese literature, covering the period from inception until April 25, 2024. Randomized controlled trials examining the effect of aerobic exercise on executive function in healthy middle-aged and older adults aged 45 or older were included. The Cochrane Collaboration's RoB2 tool was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. And subgroup analyses and meta-regressions were conducted to elucidate the impact of aerobic exercise on executive function., Results: Forty-two eligible randomized controlled trials, involving a total of 2881 participants, met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled results showed that aerobic exercise had positive effects on improving cognitive flexibility (Hedge's g = 0.343, p < 0.001), working memory (Hedge's g = 0.392, p < 0.001), and inhibitory control (Hedge's g = 0.229, p < 0.001) in healthy middle-aged and older adults. However, it did not demonstrate an improvement in planning (Hedge's g = 0.094, p = 0.440). The dose-response relationships between different exercise parameters and subdomains of executive functions revealed that the largest effects on cognitive flexibility were observed after 13-24 weeks of progression-intensity mind-body exercise, 46-60 min per session, and 5-7 days per week. Regarding working memory, the largest effects were observed after 13-24 weeks of progression-intensity general aerobic exercise, 20-45 min per session, and 5-7 days per week. For inhibitory control, the greatest effects were noted after 13-24 weeks of low-intensity general aerobic exercise, 20-45 min per session, and 3-4 days per week., Conclusion: Aerobic exercise can significantly improve cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control in healthy middle-aged and older adults. The effect of aerobic exercise on different aspects of executive function is influenced by specific exercise parameters, suggesting that personalized aerobic exercise programs may be more effective for enhancing executive function of healthy middle-aged and older adults., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the relationship between eating competence (EC) and executive function (EF) skills in college students., Methods: This cross-sectional study was part of a larger study in which an online survey was administered during autumn quarter 2020 to undergraduate students at a northwestern U.S. public university. Sociodemographic data were collected, along with measures of EC (16-item Satter Eating Competence Inventory, ecSI-2.0™) and EF skills (27-item Executive Function Index, EFI). Multiple linear regression was used to examine the ecSI-2.0™ total score and its four domain scores with each of the five EF skills., Results: Of the 1996 respondents included in the final analyses, 40.2 % were eating competent (total ecSI-2.0™ ≥32). The mean ecSI-2.0™ score among participants was 28.7. Gender distribution was 72.0 % women, 23.3 % men, and 4.7 % trans-and-gender non-conforming (TGNC) or preferred not to answer. EFI scores were higher among women (70.9) than among men (68.2) and TGNC (64.9). Both total ecSI-2.0™ score and the contextual skills domain were significantly associated with four of the EFI subscales. Internal regulation was related to impulse control and motivational drive. Further significant associations were found with other domains of ecSI-2.0™ and specific EFI subscales., Conclusion: EF skills are associated with EC in college students, particularly skills related to food management and internal regulation. Since both EF and EC can be developed, this study offers promise for future research in an increasingly gender-diverse and neurodiverse college population during a time of increasing independence and autonomy., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Cristen Harris reports a relationship with Ellyn Satter Institute that includes: consulting or advisory and speaking and lecture fees. The use of REDCap was made possible through the Institute of Translational Health Science (ITHS) grant support to the University of Washington (CH): UL1 TR002319 from NCATS/NIH. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Magnitude processing and executive functions (EFs) have emerged as robust predictors of mathematics achievement. However, the nature of these associations is still unclear. For example, it is uncertain if EFs applied in the context of domain-specific mathematical cognition (i.e., EFs applied while processing numbers) are more closely related to mathematics achievement than EFs applied in nonnumerical, domain-general contexts. Also, how distinct EF domains-that is, working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility-and contents-that is, numerical versus nonnumerical-moderate the association between magnitude processing and mathematics achievement has not been fully understood. To address these issues, we investigated how magnitude processing, EFs applied to nonnumerical and numerical task stimuli, and their interactions were associated with mathematics achievement. Three hundred fifty-nine Brazilian third- to fifth-grade (8-10 years old) students completed measures of working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility with numerical and nonnumerical task versions, nonsymbolic and symbolic magnitude comparison, and mathematics achievement. A series of regression models indicated that nonsymbolic and symbolic magnitude processing are consistently associated with mathematics achievement, even when controlling for working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility measured with both numerical and nonnumerical contents. All EF measures were associated with mathematics achievement. However, cognitive flexibility measured with numerical content showed the strongest association. Results support the hypothesis that magnitude processing and EFs are uniquely associated with mathematics achievement. Furthermore, EFs measured with nonnumerical and numerical contents related differently to mathematics achievement, even when controlling for symbolic and nonsymbolic magnitude processing, suggesting they encompass somewhat distinct cognitive processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Executive function influences children's learning abilities and organizes their cognitive processes, behaviors, and emotions. This cross-sectional study examined whether an Indonesian Computer-Based Game (ICbG) prototype could be used as a Computer-Based Game Inventory for Executive Function (CGIEF) in children and adolescents. The study was conducted with 200 children, adolescents, and their parents. The parents completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF) questionnaire, and the children and adolescents completed the CGIEF. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were performed using LISREL Version 8.80. The construct of CGIEF was valid/fit with normal theory-weighted least squares = 15.75 ( p > .05). SEM analysis showed that the theoretical construct of the CGIEF was a valid predictor of executive function. The critical t value of the pathway was 2.45, and normal theory-weighted least squares was 5.74 ( p > .05). The construct reliability (CR) for CGIEF was 0.91. Concurrent validity was assessed using the Bland-Altman plot, and the coefficient of repeatability (bias/mean) was nearly zero between the t scores of total executive functions of the CGIEF and BRIEF. This preliminary study showed that the CGIEF can be useful as a screening tool for executive dysfunction, metacognitive deficits, and behavioral regulation problems among children and adolescents in clinical samples., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The current study aimed to investigate the impact of recreational gymnastics on executive function in Chinese preschoolers, with a focus on gymnastics potential to enhance core components of executive function. A total of 63 preschool children who received full-time education were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (N = 31, mean age = 66.27 months, SD = 3.12 months) or a control group (N = 32, mean age = 66.79 months, SD = 3.34 months). The intervention group engaged in recreational gymnastics for 60 min, three times a week for 12 weeks. Meanwhile, the control group continued with their typical outdoor activities at kindergarten and did not participate in any organized sports. The intervention program was primarily conducted through group play and was facilitated by teachers who underwent standardized training. Various simple and complex tasks were utilized to evaluate delay gratification (Snack delay and Wrapped gift), inhibitory control (Stop signal task and Circle drawing task), working memory (Letter memory task and Keep track task), and cognitive flexibility (Go/No-Go task and Dots task). The analysis of covariance revealed that the children who participated in the intervention outperformed the control group on most simple and complex executive function tasks. Specifically, these children demonstrated an enhanced ability to regulate persistent responses, process and update information, and manage high cognitive conflict. The findings of this investigation lend support to the hypothesis that moderate-intensity recreational gymnastics is an efficacious means of enhancing executive function in early childhood. Future research should employ a larger sample size, incorporate a long-term follow-up design, and utilize a multi-method approach to further substantiate the impact of moderate-intensity gymnastics on the executive function of young children, as well as to investigate its underlying mechanism and generalizability., (© 2024 The Author(s). PsyCh Journal published by Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

This study was designed to test the effects of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD) on depression levels and investigate the mediating role of executive function (EF) in adults. Adults with ADHD, DCD, and ADHD + DCD (N = 139) completed self-report measures of ADHD, DCD, depression, and EF. There were distinct profiles of EF across diagnostic groups, and higher depression symptoms in adults with ADHD + DCD than DCD alone. All EF domains were predicted by ADHD symptoms, and several by DCD symptoms. ADHD and DCD symptoms, and most EF domains, predicted depression symptoms. Overall EF difficulties fully mediated the relationships between ADHD/DCD and depression symptoms. Several specific EF domains relating to behavioural regulation and metacognition also showed full/partial mediating effects. The mediating role of EF difficulties between these neurodevelopmental conditions and depression symptoms has implications for their understanding and treatment, suggesting that targeting EF may be important for preventing co-occurring depression., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Sedentary lifestyles may affect cognitive capacities which are essential for daily tasks. There is a lack of research on the effects of replacing sedentary behaviour with physical activity on executive function, as well as the dose-response relationship between physical activity and executive function among young adults, underscoring the critical need for prompt investigation., Methods: Employing a longitudinal experimental design, the study conducted two assessments (baseline and at three months) on a cohort of participants. A total of 78 young adults with a mean age of 25 years old were recruited for the study. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour were measured using accelerometer, which provided objective data on the intensity and duration of the participants' daily activity. Executive function was measured using the Trail Making Test (TMT). An isotemporal substitution model was employed to analyze the effects of replacing sedentary time with physical activity of different intensities. Additionally, mixed-effect models were used to explore the dose-response relationships between physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and executive function., Results: The reallocation of 30 min of daily time from sedentary behaviour (SED) to light physical activity (LPA) significantly reduced Trail Making Test (TMT) completion times, suggesting improvements in cognitive processing speed. Conversely, shifting the same duration from SED to moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) enhanced the accuracy rate on the TMT. Sedentary time was associated with longer TMT completion times but did not significantly affect the accuracy rate. Additionally, a dose-response relationship was observed, with increases in MVPA, caloric expenditure, and step count correlating with shorter TMT completion times. In contrast, increases in LPA and caloric expenditure were associated with higher TMT correct response rates., Conclusion: The substitution of sedentary behaviour with physical activity may be a beneficial strategy to enhance executive function among young adults. These results underscore the importance of reducing sedentary time and promoting physical activity in the daily routine of young individuals to support cognitive development. Future research should explore the underlying mechanisms., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: All participants provided written informed consent following a comprehensive explanation of the study’s procedures. This study received approval from the Ethics Committee of the School of Medicine at Tsinghua University (IRB 20190091). Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

A positive association between pubertal maturity as assessed by skeletal development, and specific cognitive abilities has recently been demonstrated in a cohort of adolescent girls. The current study explores the impact of chronological age and relative pubertal maturity on executive function within the same cohort. Relative maturity, determined by the difference between chronological age and skeletal age, establishes the criteria for enrolling participants into average, advanced, or delayed relative maturity subgroups. Performance is assessed using the Numerical Stroop test and analyzed across four conditions, each with varying task requirements related to inhibition and task switching. The effects of chronological age and relative maturity on executive functions are tested by a linear mixed model. Within the examined age-range (12-15 y), a more protracted development was found for inhibition as compared to switching. In line with the previous findings, the results reveal significant development in executive performance as a function of chronological age, and relative maturity also demonstrated significant effect on the development of executing functioning. The significant interaction effect between Chronological Age and Relative Maturity suggests that the degree of interplay between these factors varies across the examined age range. Specifically, relative maturity may have a more noticeable impact on EF functioning in middle adolescence compared to early adolescence., Competing Interests: Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: The interconnected effects of maternal perinatal depression and the early mother-infant relational quality on children's executive function development are crucial yet understudied. This study addresses this gap, focusing on how perinatal depressive symptoms and emotional availability at 6 months predict child executive function performance at age four, with an emphasis on the moderating role of emotional availability., Method: This study included 282 mother-infant pairs recruited from the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study, utilising repeated Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale measurement over the perinatal period, Emotional Availability Scales, and child executive function assessments (Shape School, NEPSY-II, Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity scale, inattentive subscale). Latent growth curve analysis incorporated controls for socioeconomic status and maternal cognitive abilities, and moderation effects were examined through multiplicative interaction terms., Results: We found that emotional availability influences children's executive function, specifically switching, motor inhibition, and inattentive symptoms, irrespective of maternal depressive symptom changes. This effect is further nuanced by emotional availability's moderating role in the association between depressive symptom change and switching., Limitations: The study's limitations include a relatively small sample size for moderation analysis and the exclusion of paternal influences., Conclusion: This study is a significant step in understanding the profound influence of maternal emotional availability in infancy on child executive function development, offering new avenues for research and, if replicated, a foundation for innovative intervention approaches., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Research over the past several decades has revealed that non-linguistic cognitive impairments can appear alongside language deficits in individuals with aphasia. One vulnerable cognitive domain is executive function, an umbrella term for the higher-level cognitive processes that allow us to direct our behavior towards a goal. Studies in healthy adults reveal that executive function abilities are supported by inner speech, the ability to use language silently in one's head. Therefore, inner speech may mediate the connection between language and executive function deficits in individuals with aphasia. Here, we investigated whether inner speech ability may link language and cognitive impairments in 59 adults with chronic, post-stroke aphasia. We used two approaches to measure inner speech: one based on internal retrieval of words and one based on internal retrieval plus silent manipulation of the retrieved phonological forms. Then, we examined relationships between these two approaches to measuring inner speech and five aspects of executive function ability: response inhibition, conflict monitoring/resolution, general task-switching ability, phonological control, and semantic control. We also looked for dissociations between inner speech ability and executive function ability. Our results show tentative relationships between inner speech (across multiple measurement approaches) and all aspects of executive function except for response inhibition. We also found evidence for a double dissociation: many participants show intact executive function despite poor inner speech, and vice versa, so neither process is strictly reliant on the other. We suggest that this work provides preliminary evidence of a bidirectional relationship between inner speech and executive function: inner speech supports some aspects of executive function via internal self-cueing and certain aspects of executive function support performance on complex inner speech tasks., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study delves into the criticality of Emotion recognition (ER) as a pivotal component of social functionality and psychological well-being, focusing on its susceptibility to aging and sex-related differences. Underpinned by the 'frontal aging hypothesis,' which posits a particular vulnerability of executive functions to the aging process, this study aims to unravel the intricate dynamics of how aging influences ER in both sexes, emphasizing the mediating role of executive functions. A cohort of 127 healthy adults underwent the Multi-Modality Emotion Recognition Test mobile application to assess facial ER and cross-modal matching abilities. Comprehensive neuropsychological assessments supplemented this to evaluate various facets of executive function. The analysis indicated a pronounced decline in ER performance among older adults, with no significant sex differences across age groups. However, gender-specific patterns emerged in the aging-ER relationship. For males, cognitive flexibility (β = 0.399, p < 0.001) and inhibition (β = 0.329, p = 0.020) were partial mediators. In females, working memory (β = -0.297, p = 0.023) and selective attention (β = 0.290, p = 0.042) moderated the aging-facial ER link, with inhibition (β = 0.284, p = 0.015) also playing a partial mediating role. Additionally, inhibition (β = 0.194, p = 0.043) moderated the relationship between aging and the female's cross-modal matching. The findings highlight a gender-differentiated impact of executive functions on age-related ER decline. This underscores the need for gender-tailored approaches in enhancing ER, particularly in an aging population., Competing Interests: Declaration of interest statement The authors have no conflict of interest to report., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Lay Abstract: Many autistic people struggle with mental health problems like anxiety, depression, inattention, and aggression, which can be challenging to treat. Executive function challenges, which impact many autistic individuals, may serve as a risk factor for mental health problems or make treating mental health conditions more difficult. While some people respond well to medication or therapy, others do not. This study tried to understand if there are different subgroups of autistic young people who may have similar patterns of executive function strengths and challenges-like flexibility, planning, self-monitoring, and emotion regulation. Then, we investigated whether executive function subgroups were related to mental health problems in autistic youth. We found three different types of executive function subgroups in autistic youth, each with different patterns of mental health problems. This helps us identify specific profiles of executive function strengths and challenges that may be helpful with identifying personalized supports, services, and treatment strategies for mental health conditions., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Lauren Kenworthy receives royalties from the publication of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function.

It is unknown how the Addictions Neuroclinical Assessment markers-negative affect, sensation seeking, and executive function-contribute to substance use development. This study examined whether associations of negative affect and sensation seeking with substance use vary by executive function. Participants were 167 adolescents (47% female) who participated annually for four years (M age  = 14.07, SD age  = 0.54 at Time 1). There were within-person bidirectional associations between higher negative affect and higher substance use for adolescents with lower executive function. Adolescents with higher sensation seeking at age 14 exhibited increasing substance use trajectories from age 14 to 17, regardless of executive function level. Negative affect and substance use influence each other within individuals, whereas sensation seeking predicts substance use between individuals., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Previous studies have reported that patients with depression have significant cognitive impairment. The aim of this study is to comprehensively evaluate the impairment of executive functions in patients with depression and whether the cognitive behavior performance of executive function is association with remission of depressive state after clinical treatment., Methods: We used cognitive-behavioral test to evaluate the performance of executive functions of 95 inpatients with depression before hospitalization and conducted two follow-up evaluations of their depression status on the 15th day of hospitalization and approximately 9 months after discharge., Results: The performance of executive function except the accuracy of inhibition control in patients with depression were significantly worse than that of healthy controls. Multivariate linear regression analysis found that the reaction time of working memory not only had a significant linear relationship with the baseline depression scores of patients with depression, but also had a significant linear relationship with the reduced depression scores after two follow-up visits., Limitations: We only used cognitive-behavioral data as indicators to evaluate the cognitive performances of participants and only measured three components of executive function., Conclusions: The reaction time of working memory was a stable and effective predictor of symptom relief in patients with depression after clinical treatment. These results provide initial evidence for working memory to predict the clinical prognosis of inpatients with depression prospectively, which could be further leveraged to improve intervention approaches and analyze the heterogeneity of depression., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No authors of this paper have any conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

There is no relationship more vital than the one a child shares with their primary caregivers early in development. Yet many children worldwide are raised in settings that lack the warmth, connection, and stimulation provided by a responsive primary caregiver. In this study, we used data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP), a longitudinal study of institutionally-reared and family-reared children, to test how caregiving quality during infancy is associated with average EEG power over the first 3.5 years of life in alpha, beta, and theta frequency bands, and associations with later executive function (EF) at age 8 years. The sample comprised 189 children (129 institutionally-reared; 60 family-reared) who contributed data on observed caregiving quality during infancy (baseline; average age of 22 months), resting EEG power at baseline, 30, and 42 months, and performance-based data on a series of EF tasks at 8 years. Using Bayesian estimation, observed caregiving quality at baseline was marginally linked with higher average alpha and beta power, and lower theta power, from baseline to 42 months. In turn, higher average beta power and lower average theta power were marginally associated with higher EF at 8 years. In indirect effects models, higher caregiving quality at baseline was associated with higher EF at 8 years, with a marginal indirect effect through average theta power from baseline to 42 months. Variation in the quality of the early caregiving environment may be associated with later executive function, which is partially underpinned by individual differences in brain activity during early childhood. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Examined associations between caregiving quality during infancy, brain activity during early childhood, and executive function during mid-childhood in sample of never-institutionalized and institutionally-reared children. Significant associations between higher quality caregiving during infancy and higher executive function during middle childhood. Marginal associations between caregiving quality during infancy and brain activity during early childhood. Marginal associations between brain activity during early childhood and executive function during mid-childhood., (© 2024 The Authors. Developmental Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Evidence suggests that child maltreatment is a risk factor for adolescent suicidal behavior. However, the differential influence of distinct forms of child maltreatment on adolescent suicide attempts is understudied and the factors that might exacerbate or ameliorate these associations warrant attention. We examined the associations between two distinct forms of child maltreatment (threat and deprivation) and suicide attempt history, and investigated whether executive function domains moderated these associations. Participants were 119 adolescents ( M = 15.24, SD = 1.46, 72.3% female) recruited from an inpatient psychiatric hospital during hospitalization for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Results indicated that the executive function domains of initiation, shifting, and planning/organization moderated the associations between threat and suicide attempt history. Associations between threat and suicide attempt history were significant only when initiation and shifting T-scores were lower ( OR = 1.22, p = .03 and OR = 1.32, p = .01, respectively). The association between threat and suicide attempt history trended toward significance when planning/organization T-scores were lower ( OR = 1.15, p = .10). None of the executive function domains moderated the link between deprivation and suicide attempt history. Findings highlight the need for research investigating whether initiation, shifting, and planning/organization might be amendable to intervention in the context of threat-related child maltreatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: A growing body of literature links prenatal mood and substance use to children's cognitive and behavioral development. The relative contribution of these risk factors on children's executive function (EF) in the context of socioeconomic adversities needs further evaluation. To address this gap, we investigated the role of prenatal maternal anxiety and depression on childhood EF, specifically inhibitory control and working memory, within the context of socioeconomic adversities and prenatal substance use. We hypothesized that higher maternal mood symptoms, higher persistent prenatal drinking and smoking, and lower socioeconomic status would be associated with lower EF skills during early childhood., Methods: We used data from 334 mother-child dyads followed prospectively through pregnancy and the offspring's childhood. Prenatal maternal depression and anxiety were assessed via standardized questionnaires. Prenatal alcohol and tobacco consumption were assessed via a timeline follow-back interview. The EF touch battery assessed child inhibitory control and working memory at 3-5 years of age (4.76 ± 0.58 years, 171 females). Separate linear regression models were used to estimate the association of prenatal tobacco, alcohol, anxiety, and depression exposure with our two components of child EF, inhibitory control and working memory, while adjusting for gestational age, sex, and age at assessment. The following variables were also included as covariates: maternal educational achievement, employment status, parity, and household crowding index., Results: Children of mothers with high trait anxiety scores had reduced inhibitory control compared to children of mothers without trait anxiety or depression (β = -0.12, 95% CI:-0.22,-0.01). Children of mothers in the moderate to high continuous smoking group showed lower inhibitory control (β = - 0.19, 95% CI:-0.38,-0.01) compared to children of mothers in the none smoking group. Additionally, lower maternal education and higher household crowding were each associated with reduced inhibitory control. We found no significant association between prenatal maternal depression, anxiety, or socioeconomic factors with working memory., Conclusions: These results underscore the need for comprehensive context-specific intervention packages, including mental health support for women to promote healthy inhibitory control development in children., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Asthma is a highly prevalent inflammatory condition, significantly affecting nearly six million U.S. children and impacting various facets of their developmental trajectories including neurodevelopment. Evidence supports a link between pediatric environmental exposures in two key areas: asthma and executive function (E.F.). E.F.s are a collective of higher-order cognitive processes facilitating goal-oriented behaviors. Studies also identify asthma-associated E.F. impairments in children. However, limited research has evaluated the inter-relationships among environmental exposures, asthma, and E.F. in children. This review explored relevant research to identify and connect the potential mechanisms and pathways underlying these dynamic associations. The review suggests that the role of the pediatric exposome may function through (1) several underlying biological pathways (i.e., the lung-brain axis, neuroendocrine system, and hypoxia), which could drive asthma and maladaptive E.F. in children and (2) the relationships between the exposome, asthma, and E.F. is a bidirectional linkage. The review reveals essential synergistic links between asthma and E.F. deficits, highlighting the potential role of the pediatric exposome., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Alcala, Lane, Midya, Eggers, Wright and Rosa.)

The aim of the study is to investigate the association of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and muscular strength indicators with gray matter volume (GMV) and to study whether fitness-related regions of GMV are associated to executive function (EF) in cognitively normal older adults. Ninety-one cognitively normal older adults (71.69 ± 3.91 years; 57.14% females) participated in this study from the AGUEDA trial. CRF was measured by a 2-km walking test and a 6-min walking test. Muscular strength was measured by handgrip, biceps curl, squats, and isokinetic strength tests. T1-weigthed images were obtained through a magnetic resonance scan. GMV was determined by voxel-based morphometric analysis. Standardized EF tests were performed. CRF did not show any positive association with GMV. Handgrip strength was positively associated with GMV (p < 0.001) in nine regions (β from 0.6 to 0.8 and k from 106 to 1927) and knee extension strength in three regions (β from 0.4 to 0.5 and k from 76 to 2776). Squats strength was negatively associated with GMV (p < 0.001) in two regions (β = -0.3, k = 1102 and k = 152) and the 2-km walking test in one region (β = -0.4, k = 99). Only handgrip strength-related GMV was associated with cognitive flexibility (p = 0.039, β = 0.215) and spatial working memory (p < 0.03, β 0.247-0.317), but not with EF score (p > 0.05). Muscular strength, but no CRF, may be positively related to GMV in cortical and subcortical regions, with implications for specific cognitive domains rather than the overall EF score. Specifically, handgrip strength was the indicator most associated with higher GMV, while squats strength and CRF were negatively related to GMV. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05186090., (© 2024 The Author(s). Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science In Sports published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Cognitive impairments affect functional capacity in individuals with schizophrenia (SZH), but their neural basis remains unclear. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and the Stroop Task (SCWT), are paradigmatic tests which have been used extensively for examining executive function in SZH. However, few studies have explored how deficits on these tasks link to brain volume differences commonly seen in SZH. Here, for the first time, we tested associations between FreeSurfer-derived frontal brain volumes and performance on both WCST and SCWT, in a well-matched sample of 57 SZH and 32 control subjects. We also explored whether these associations were dissociable from links to symptom severity in SZH. Results revealed correlations between volumes and task performance which were unique to SZH. In SZH only, volumes of right middle frontal regions correlated with both WCST and Stroop performance: correlation coefficients were significantly different to those present in the control group, highlighting their specificity to the patient group. In the Stroop task, superior frontal regions also showed associations with Stroop interference scores which were unique to SZH. These findings provide important detail around how deficits on these two paradigmatic executive function tasks link to brain structural differences in SZH. Results align with converging evidence suggesting that neuropathology within right middle frontal regions (BA9 and BA46) might be of particular import in SZH. No volumetric associations with symptom severity were found, supporting the notion that the structural abnormalities underpinning cognitive deficits in SZH differ from those associated with symptomatology., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: The hemodynamics of prefrontal cortex (PFC) oxygenation are regulated by numerous processes operating over multiple temporal scales, producing complex patterns in its output fluctuations. Age may alter this multiscale regulation of PFC oxygenation, leading to diminished physiologic complexity of this important regulatory process. We aimed to characterize the effects of age on such complexity and its relationship to performance of an executive n-back task., Methods: Twenty-four younger (aged 28 ± 3 years) and 27 older (aged 78 ± 6 years) adults completed this study. Continuous oxygenation (HbO2) and deoxygenation (HHb) signals of PFC were recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) while participants stood and watched a blank screen (blank), clicked a mouse when an X appeared (IdX), or when a letter was repeated from "2-back" in a sequence shown on a screen (2-back). We used multiscale entropy to quantify the HbO2 and HHb complexity of fNIRS signals., Results: Older adults exhibited lower HbO2 and HHb complexity compared to younger adults, regardless of task (p = .0005-.002). Both groups exhibited greater complexity during the IdX and 2-back than blank task (p = .02-.04). Across all participants, those with greater HbO2 and/or HHb complexity during the blank task exhibited faster IdX and 2-back reaction time (β = -0.56 to -0.6, p = .009-.02). Those demonstrating greater increase in HbO2 and/or HHb complexity from IdX to 2-back task had lower percent increase in reaction time from IdX to 2-back task (β = -0.41 to -0.37, p = .005-.01)., Conclusions: The complexity of fNIRS-measured PFC oxygenation fluctuations may capture the influence of aging on the regulation of prefrontal hemodynamics involved in executive-function-based task performance., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Late-life depression (LLD) is characterized by a poor response to antidepressant medications and diminished cognitive performance, particularly in executive functioning. There is currently no accepted pharmacotherapy for LLD that effectively treats both mood and cognitive symptoms. This study investigated whether transdermal nicotine augmentation of standard antidepressant medications benefitted mood and cognitive symptoms in LLD., Methods: Nonsmoking participants aged 60 years or older with unremitted LLD on stable SSRI or SNRI medications (N = 29) received transdermal nicotine patches up to a 21 mg daily dose over 12 weeks. Clinical measures assessed depression severity, secondary affective symptoms, and cognitive performance. Nicotine metabolite concentrations were obtained from blood samples., Results: Depression severity significantly decreased over the trial, with a 76 % response rate and 59 % remission rate. Change in depression severity was positively associated with nicotine exposure. Participants also exhibited improvement in self-reported affective symptoms (apathy, insomnia, rumination, and generalized anxiety symptoms), negativity bias, and disability. Executive function test performance significantly improved, specifically in measures of cognitive control, as did subjective cognitive performance. Adverse events were generally mild, with 75 % of the sample tolerating the maximum dose., Conclusion: The current study extends our previous pilot open-label trial in LLD, supporting feasibility and tolerability of transdermal nicotine patches as antidepressant augmentation. Although preliminary, this open-label study supports the potential benefit of transdermal nicotine patches for both mood and cognitive symptoms of LLD. Further research, including definitive randomized, blinded trials, is warranted to confirm these findings and explore long-term risk and benefit., Trial Registration: The study was registered with clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04433767)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors report no conflicts of interests, including no conflicts with any product mentioned or concept discussed in this article., (Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Exposure to particulate matter (PM) has been found to be associated with impaired cognitive function. However, limited evidence is available on the relationship between PM exposure in the prenatal period and toddler executive function (EF), and the potential influence of breastfeeding., Methods: The study included 1106 mother-toddler pairs recruited between 2015 and 2019. We assessed mothers' PM 1 , PM 2.5 , and PM 10 prenatal exposure with a satellite-based dataset at a 1 × 1 km spatial resolution and assigned to participants based on residential addresses. Toddler EF was measured using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function for Preschoolers (BRIEF-P) questionnaire, higher BRIEF-P scores indicated poorer EF in toddlers. We determined the associations of PM exposure during pregnancy with BRIEF-P scores using multiple linear regression models., Results: In the first trimester, a 10 μg/m 3 increase of PM was associated with 1.49 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.14-2.83; PM 1 ), 0.68 (95% CI: 0.10-1.26; PM 2.5 ), and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.07-1.20; PM 10 ) elevated toddler global executive composite index scores, respectively. In the stratified analysis, a 10 μg/m 3 increase in first trimester PM 1 exposure was related to 0.54 (95% CI: 0.19-0.89) higher inhibition scores in toddlers who received complementary breastfeeding for less than six months and -0.15 (95% CI: 0.81-0.51) higher inhibition scores in toddlers who received complementary breastfeeding for six months or more (P for interaction: 0.046). Additionally, a 10 μg/m 3 increment in first trimester PM 1 exposure was related to 0.36 (95% CI: 0.13-0.59) higher emotional control scores in toddlers who received breastfeeding for less than 12 months and -0.54 (95% CI: 1.25-0.18) higher inhibition scores in toddlers who received breastfeeding for no less than 12 months (P for interaction: 0.043)., Conclusions: PM exposure during the first trimester, especially PM 1 , has been linked to lower toddler EF performance in toddlers; feeding with breast milk may be a potential protective measure., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study involved a psychometric evaluation of the Short Executive Function Scale (SEFS), a new 15-item self-report questionnaire measuring five constructs: Planning, Inhibition, Working Memory, Shifting, and Emotional Control. Participants included 717 U.S. undergraduate students ( M = 18.9 years old, SD = 1.9; 78.8% cisgender female, 81.7% White) who completed the SEFS. A subset of 156 participants ( M = 18.8 years old, SD = 0.9; 79.5% cisgender female, 83.3% White) completed the SEFS again at 2- to 3-month retest along with the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult (BRIEF-A) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8). The five-factor model fit well (CFI = 0.941, RMSEA = 0.079) and each scale had acceptable internal consistency ( ω range: .68-.81) and test-retest reliability (ICC range: .75-.89). Apart from Shifting, all SEFS scales had significantly larger convergent validity coefficients with their respective BRIEF-A scales ( r range: -.25 to -.70) than discriminant validity coefficients with the PHQ-8 ( r range: -.06 to -.28). These findings provide preliminary psychometric support for the SEFS., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of brain-based instruction on executive function and habits of mind among young children at-risk for learning disabilities., Method: This study employed a quantitative approach using a quasi-experimental, pretest, post-test, and follow-up design. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), repeated-measures, pre-, post-, and follow-up testing design was used. Total number of participants were 40 children: treatment group ( n  = 20, 8 males, 12 females) and control group ( n  = 20, 9 males, 11 females). Accordingly, 40 students were chosen from four kindergartens in Qassim, Saudi Arabia. The sampling methodology employed used convenience sampling., Results: The results found that using brain-based instruction to improve functions and habits of mind indicate the effectiveness of this method for children at-risk with learning disabilities., Conclusions: Using multisensory instructional techniques to actively engage students presents a channel for magnifying student learning experiences. Brain-based learning is a constructivism teaching method where in the brain constructing learning process finds and structures knowledge by means of association with previous experiences and knowledge.

Context: The risk of early neurodevelopmental delay is increasingly recognized in children born moderate-to-late preterm (MLP; 32-36 weeks' gestation), but school-aged cognitive outcomes are unclear, particularly for domains such as executive function (EF)., Objective: To evaluate EF outcomes (attentional control, cognitive flexibility, and goal setting) in school-aged children born MLP compared with children born at term., Data Sources: Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, and Scopus., Study Selection: Studies assessing EF outcomes (overall EF, attentional control, cognitive flexibility, and goal setting) in children born MLP aged between 6 and 17 years, which included a term-born control group., Data Extraction: Two reviewers screened for eligibility and completed the risk of bias assessment using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, and 1 reviewer extracted data. Random effects meta-analyses were performed., Results: Twelve studies were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analyses (2348 MLP children and 20 322 controls). Children born MLP had poorer overall EF compared with children born at term (standardized mean difference, -0.15, 95% confidence interval, -0.21 to -0.09; P < .0001; I2 = 47.59%). Similar conclusions were noted across the subdomains of attentional control, cognitive flexibility, and goal setting., Limitations: Study methodologies and EF measures varied. Only a small number of studies met eligibility criteria and were from developed countries., Conclusions: School-aged children born MLP may experience greater challenges in EF compared with term-born children. Further research is needed to investigate the potential impact these challenges have on functional outcomes such as academic achievement and social-emotional functioning., (Copyright © 2024 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Impulsivity and cognitive function are essential for understanding behavioral regulation, particularly in relation to health-risk behaviors like substance use, physical activity, and academic performance. This study examined the factor structure underlying executive function in adolescents using the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale and NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery. We explored how parental monitoring moderates, and peer network health and perceived stress mediate, relationships between cognitive function and outcomes such as BMI, physical activity, and academic performance. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on 2228 observations identified a four-factor model (BIC = -97.92, RMSEA = 0.040, TLI = 0.936), validated by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (CFI = 0.961, RMSEA = 0.055). Structural equation modeling (SEM) on 5902 observations showed that parental monitoring moderated Factor 1 (adaptive impulsivity) in relation to physical activity and academic performance, while peer network health mediated Factor 2 (emotional impulsivity) effects on BMI and physical activity. This model underscores the influence of peer relationships, parental involvement, and stress on cognitive, health, and academic outcomes, suggesting that interventions enhancing peer support, reducing stress, and promoting healthy behaviors may improve adolescent well-being., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Importance: Cannabis use during pregnancy is increasingly common in the US and may affect the development and behavior of preschool-aged children., Objective: To prospectively investigate the association of prenatal cannabis exposure with executive function and aggressive behavior at age 5 years., Design, Setting, Participants: This cohort study was conducted from 2016 through 2020. Data analysis was conducted from 2022 through 2024. Patients aged 16 through 50 years who were able to communicate in English and intended to deliver at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center were enrolled in a pregnancy research repository. Participants (n = 355) who gave consent for future contact and whose child(ren) was presumed to be alive were invited to participate again at child age 5 years (children born May 25, 2010, through February 7, 2016) and 250 children participated (70%)., Exposure: Cannabis exposure was measured prospectively by urine toxicology, maternal self-report, and obstetric record abstraction., Main Outcomes and Measures: Executive function and aggressive behavior, measured via multimodal assessment by staff masked to exposure status. Outcomes were chosen a priori., Results: Of 250 children, 80 were exposed to cannabis (32%). Use of tobacco, other drugs, and alcohol during pregnancy was common (22% to 39% each). Most families were living in poverty. There were 155 children who were Black/African American, non-Hispanic (62%); 11 were Hispanic (4%); 34 indicated more than one race or another race, non-Hispanic (14%); and 50 were White, non-Hispanic (20%). Age-corrected standard scores for children's attention and inhibitory control (National Institutes of Health Toolbox) were about 0.4 SDs lower for those exposed to cannabis compared with unexposed (β = -6.1 points; 95% CI, -10.8 to -1.4), following propensity score weighting and adjustment for confounders. Exposed children also exhibited poorer task-based planning ability and more observed aggression. Caregiver ratings of executive function and behavior and laboratory assessments of other aspects of executive functioning showed no differences by exposure status., Conclusions and Relevance: Results from this contemporary US cohort where prenatal cannabis exposure was common and indicated that exposed children exhibited some differences in aspects of executive function and behavior relevant to long-term academic success and adaptive functioning. These results may be considered in refining clinical recommendations regarding cannabis use during pregnancy.

Predictive modeling potentially increases the reproducibility and generalizability of neuroimaging brain-phenotype associations. Yet, the evaluation of a model in another dataset is underutilized. Among studies that undertake external validation, there is a notable lack of attention to generalization across dataset-specific idiosyncrasies (i.e., dataset shifts). Research settings, by design, remove the between-site variations that real-world and, eventually, clinical applications demand. Here, we rigorously test the ability of a range of predictive models to generalize across three diverse, unharmonized developmental samples: the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort (n=1291), the Healthy Brain Network (n=1110), and the Human Connectome Project in Development (n=428). These datasets have high inter-dataset heterogeneity, encompassing substantial variations in age distribution, sex, racial and ethnic minority representation, recruitment geography, clinical symptom burdens, fMRI tasks, sequences, and behavioral measures. Through advanced methodological approaches, we demonstrate that reproducible and generalizable brain-behavior associations can be realized across diverse dataset features. Results indicate the potential of functional connectome-based predictive models to be robust despite substantial inter-dataset variability. Notably, for the HCPD and HBN datasets, the best predictions were not from training and testing in the same dataset (i.e., cross-validation) but across datasets. This result suggests that training on diverse data may improve prediction in specific cases. Overall, this work provides a critical foundation for future work evaluating the generalizability of brain-phenotype associations in real-world scenarios and clinical settings., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Brendan Adkinson reports a relationship with Elevation Prep LLC that includes: equity or stocks. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Cognitive function is improved acutely after aerobic and/or resistance exercise, but it is unclear if the types of muscle contraction can influence this effect. This study tested the hypothesis that undertaking an acute bout of exercise with eccentric than concentric contractions would be more beneficial for improving cognitive function post-exercise in older adults. Twenty healthy older adults (66-75 years) performed descending stair walking (DSW), ascending stair walking (ASW), and resistance exercise of the knee extensors with eccentric-only (RE-ECC) or concentric-only contractions (RE-CON) for ∼20 min each with a week between exercises in a randomized order. The Stroop tests of color naming (STCN) and conflicting color words (STCC), symbol digit modalities test, digit span test (DST), and two types of the trail making test (TMT-A, TMT-B) were assessed before and after sitting for 20 min (control session), and each exercise. A significant ( p  < 0.05) improvement in the baseline test scores was found from the control session to the fourth exercise session. Time to complete the tests was significantly ( p  < 0.05) reduced from pre- to post-exercise as well as after sitting for 20 min for STCN (-5.9 ± 7.4 s, Cohen's d  = 0.79), STCC (-8.9 ± 11.1 s, d  = 0.80), TMT-A (-22.6 ± 9.7 s, d  = 2.34) and TMT-B (-23.1 ± 13.7 s, d  = 1.69) without significant difference among the four exercise conditions. A significant ( p  < 0.05) improvement of DST score was found from pre- to post-exercise for DSW (9.0 ± 17.6%, d  = 0.51) and RE-ECC (6.5 ± 10.6%, d  = 0.61), but not for ASW and RE-CON. These results partially supported the hypothesis that eccentric exercise could affect acute changes in cognitive function greater than concentric exercise., Competing Interests: The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Objective: To describe associations between executive function (EF) domains (attentional control, information processing, cognitive flexibility, and goal setting) and concurrent math computation performance at age 7 and 13 years in children born <30 weeks' gestation or weighing <1,250 g, and second, to examine the impact of 7-year EF on math performance at 13 years., Method: In a prospective, longitudinal cohort of children born <30 weeks' gestation or with a birthweight <1,250 g, assessment of EF and math performance was undertaken at 7 (n = 187) and 13 years (n = 174). Linear regression models were used to describe associations between EF domains with math performance at both time points, as well as to examine the impact of EF at 7 years on math performance at 13 years., Results: At 7 and 13 years, all EF domains were positively and strongly associated with concurrent math performance (β = 11.35, 95% CI [9.28, 13.41] to β = 13.79, 95% CI [11.59, 15.98]). All EF domains at age 7 years were positively associated with math performance at 13 years, with the strongest associations observed for cognitive flexibility (β = 10.79 [8.64, 12.94]) and goal setting (β = 10.37 [8.08, 12.67])., Conclusions: This study provides evidence that EF is strongly associated with math performance in children born <30 weeks' gestation or with a birthweight <1,250 g and highlights the importance of early cognitive flexibility and goal setting performance for future math performance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Importance: The Adult Executive Functioning Inventory (ADEXI)-a short, practical, self-report questionnaire accessible across diverse adult populations and languages-was used to assess executive functions (EFs), primarily inhibition and working memory., Objective: To examine the construct validity of the ADEXI Hebrew version through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and convergent validity by correlating scores with similar measures of EF., Design and Setting: Cross-sectional study using online anonymous surveys., Participants: Nonclinical sample of 239 adults, 74.1% women, ages 18 to 80 yr (Mage = 44.19 yr, SD = 12.89)., Outcomes and Measures: The Hebrew version of the 14-item ADEXI, a demographic questionnaire, and the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX)., Results: Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's α EFA using varimax rotation, and Pearson's correlations were used. Total internal consistency was good (α = .86). Unlike the two factors in the original English version, our construct validity through EFA revealed three factors-inhibition, working memory, and, uniquely, flexibility-that accounted for 55.71% of the variance. Convergent validity was supported by medium to large significant correlations (r =.29-.76) between the ADEXI and the DEX subscales and total scores., Conclusions and Relevance: Our findings offer psychometric evidence to support using the Hebrew version of the ADEXI for EF assessments in adult Hebrew-speaking populations. Plain-Language Summary: The Adult Executive Functioning Inventory (ADEXI) assesses three key components: inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. In this study, we examined the construct validity of the Hebrew version of the ADEXI to assess executive functions. Our findings support using the ADEXI in Hebrew-speaking populations. The ADEXI offers occupational therapy practitioners serving Hebrew-speaking populations in their practice a validated tool for assessing executive functions., (Copyright © 2024 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.)

Introduction: Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) is a significant but often neglected issue for breast cancer survivors that reduces their quality of life. Physical exercise and cognitive training have emerged as promising strategies for CRCI; however, evidence regarding its effectiveness is still unknown. A recently developed motor-cognitive training (dual-tasks) is proposed to examine its efficacy on executive function, physical fitness, emotional symptomatology, and important muscle-brain crosstalk biomarkers., Methods: The BRAINonFIT study is a randomised, controlled, longitudinal (20 weeks), three-arm, parallel study with a follow-up phase (12 weeks). Breast cancer survivors (stage I-IIIA) with completed chemotherapy are recruited from QuirónSalud Hospital in Seville. Principal outcomes are executive functions, measured by the Trail Making Test, Stroop and Digit Span Backwards; physical fitness, assessed by muscle strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, and body composition; and several muscle-brain biomarkers analysed by immunoenzymatic assay (ELISA). Secondary endpoints are memory function, intelligence, learning ability, self-reported cognitive function, and emotional symptomatology. Assessments take place after the enrolment (baseline; T 1 ), after completing the interventions (5 months after baseline; T 2 ), and after completing the follow-up period (8 months after baseline; T 3 )., Discussion: Given the importance of improving care for breast cancer survivors, this study will provide preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of cognitive-motor training (dual task) as a therapeutic strategy to improve CRCI. Moreover, addressing muscle-brain crosstalk by representative biomarkers will help to elucidate the underlying mechanisms by which this intervention may beneficially impact CRCI., Clinicaltrials: gov: NCT06073717., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Preschool children spend a large part of their day at school, and a large part of that time they spend in sedentary time. Although sedentary time negatively affects regions of the brain responsible for cognition, it is believed that the type of sedentary time performed can favor executive functions' performance. The present study explored the associations between sedentary time inside and outside preschools with executive function (EF) tasks in preschoolers. Seventy-three preschool children (60% girls; 55.0 ± 9.1 months of age) were objectively assessed for sedentary time and physical activity (PA) using accelerometers (wGT3X). EF was evaluated using the Go/No-Go paradigm through the Early Years Toolbox - YET. Go's inverse efficiency (IE) and the No-Go accuracy were analyzed. To establish possible associations between EF and sedentary time, a structural equation model was conducted after adjustments for sex, age, body mass index, and moderate-to-vigorous PA. A significant and positive association between sedentary time on weekend days and IE (b = 0.61; p  < .001) was observed. The general model explained 52% of the variation in IE and 2.1% in the accuracy of No-Go. The sedentary time on weekend days seems to be related to worse EI. This result emphasizes a context-dependent association between time being sedentary and preschoolers' EF. Further investigations should focus on exploring the type of sedentary behavior children are engaged in different contexts.

Almost all of our everyday activities depend on executive function (EF) skills. In line with the increasing attention to the ecological validation of neuropsychological assessment and intervention methods, this study aimed to explore the ecological validity of a relevant set of widely used EF tests, mostly from well-known paradigms of EF assessment, in predicting driving ability. Ninety-six healthy novice drivers ( M age  = 8.4; 48 female) completed four stages of our data collection including psychological, EF, and driving assessments. For the psychological assessment, validated measures of sensation-seeking, risk-taking, personality traits, ADHD symptoms, depression, anxiety, and stress were administered. For the EF assessment, selected tests from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS: Trail Making, Design Fluency, and Tower) and the Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS: Key Search, Zoo Map, and Modified Six Elements) along with a computerized Stroop test were administered. For the driving assessment, we used a simulated driving test comprising of 14 key dimensions of driving skills. Several correlations and multiple regression analyses were conducted. Significant correlations were found between all the EF measures and driving performance. Moreover, the EF measures predicted the driving ability over and above the effects of previous driving experience and the psychological variables. These results provide supporting evidence for the ecological validity of the EF tests in predicting driving performance. The incorporation of assessment and intervention targeting multiple domains of EF into driving rehabilitation and education programs could be a focus of future research.SD  = 8.4; 48 female) completed four stages of our data collection including psychological, EF, and driving assessments. For the psychological assessment, validated measures of sensation-seeking, risk-taking, personality traits, ADHD symptoms, depression, anxiety, and stress were administered. For the EF assessment, selected tests from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS: Trail Making, Design Fluency, and Tower) and the Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS: Key Search, Zoo Map, and Modified Six Elements) along with a computerized Stroop test were administered. For the driving assessment, we used a simulated driving test comprising of 14 key dimensions of driving skills. Several correlations and multiple regression analyses were conducted. Significant correlations were found between all the EF measures and driving performance. Moreover, the EF measures predicted the driving ability over and above the effects of previous driving experience and the psychological variables. These results provide supporting evidence for the ecological validity of the EF tests in predicting driving performance. The incorporation of assessment and intervention targeting multiple domains of EF into driving rehabilitation and education programs could be a focus of future research.