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Executive functions (EF) impact the success of university students. These skills appear to have a predictive role in academic performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an intervention program in EF aimed at university students, the πFex-Academics , seeking to verify whether there are gains in EF, a reduction in inattention and hyperactivity indicators and a transfer to reading comprehension. Participants were two professors and their respective classes, totaling 129 students. The classes were divided into: experimental group (EG) ( n  = 66) and control group (CG) ( n  = 63). All students underwent a pre- and post-intervention assessment. The program implementation process was mediated by the EG professor. Although no direct gains were identified in the indices of EF difficulties, greater gains in the EG were verified in the hyperactivity/impulsivity and reading comprehension indices, when compared to the CG. These findings are promising, demonstrating the first evidence of the effectiveness of the πFex - Academics . The incorporation of interventions into the university context can provide various benefits for students, with improved behavior and written language processing, necessary for the best possible academic success. Activities of EF mediation for higher education learning can be incorporated into extension courses or the curriculum of university courses.

Objective: Cognitive impairments are known to be a frequent cause of disability in bipolar disorder (BD) and major depression (MDD). Yet there is no consensus regarding the particular cognitive functions whose impairments can lead to disability in each domain of functioning. The aim of this study was to perform a longitudinal evaluation of working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility and attention in BD and MDD, investigate the relationship of these cognitive functions to disability and quality of life, and evaluate the impact of variables related to cognitive reserve (education and daily cognitive stimulation) on cognitive performance., Method: 31 participants (MDD = 12; BD = 19) were evaluated at baseline and after an average time of 2 years., Results: the BD group showed improvements in attention while patients with MDD improved on measures of attention and working memory. In BD working memory performance was associated with the cognition and mobility domains of functioning, and with physical and environmental quality of life. In MDD, cognitive flexibility was related to social relationships and environmental quality of life., Conclusion: working memory and cognitive flexibility may be an interesting target for interventions aiming to improve everyday functioning and quality of life in BD and MDD.

The Modified Card Sorting Test (MCST) is a widely used variation of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. It is faster to administer, less frustrating for respondents and less ambiguous in its scoring but has been criticized for its task impurity and low discriminability between control participants and clinical groups prone to executive dysfunction. This study aimed to examine the executive functions (EF) underlying traditional (number of categories completed, perseverative errors) and novel scores for the MCST, and compare their ability to differentiate between control and clinical samples. Novel and traditional MCST scores were compared between 94 control participants, 87 with bipolar disorder and 64 with major depression. The relationship between MCST scores and traditional EF tasks was examined through correlation and regression analyses. All MCST scores were associated with at least one measure of EF, the most common of which were the Trail Making or Hayling Tests. IQ predicted most scores on the MCST, save for nonperseverative errors and categorizing efficiency. Traditional and novel scores differentiated between clinical and control groups. These findings support the utility of the MCST in detecting executive dysfunction and highlight the importance of new scoring methods in increasing the specificity and interpretability of this task.

This study aimed to evaluate the performance of patients with right hemisphere damage (RHD) with or without hemispatial neglect (HN) on a cancellation task. The study involved 31 control participants and 31 patients with RHD, matched by age, education, and frequency of reading and writing habits. The numbers of omission and random errors as well as the mean time to task completion were compared between adults with and without RHD, as well as between patients with and without HN. The latter made more left-sided omission errors, and more overall omission errors, than patients with RHD and no HN. The location of the first target canceled differed between subjects with RHD and control participants, as well as between patients with and without hemineglect. The use of organized vs. disorganized search strategies did not differ between groups. Further studies are required to investigate the performance of patients with HN of different levels of severity.

Although the impact of education and age on executive functions (EF) has been widely studied, the influence of daily cognitive stimulation on EF has not been sufficiently investigated. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate whether the age, education, and frequency of reading and writing habits (FRWH) of healthy adults could predict their performance on measures of inhibition and cognitive flexibility. Inhibition speed, inhibitory control, and set shifting were assessed using speed, accuracy, and discrepancy scores on the Trail-Making Test (TMT) and Hayling Test. Demographic characteristics and the FRWH were assessed using specialized questionnaires. Regression analyses showed that age and the FRWH predicted speed and accuracy on the TMT. The FRWH predicted both speed and accuracy on the Hayling Test, for which speed and accuracy scores were also partly explained by age and education, respectively. Surprisingly, only the FRWH was associated with Hayling Test discrepancy scores, considered one of the purest EF measures. This highlights the importance of regular cognitive stimulation over the number of years of formal education on EF tasks. Further studies are required to investigate the role of the FRWH so as to better comprehend its relationship with EF and general cognition.