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There is a vast literature on "executive functioning," or the control of one's thoughts and actions in pursuit of a goal. This broad construct is conceptualized as comprising multiple executive functions (EFs) that support academic achievement and other important life outcomes. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding what, exactly, these core EFs are. This commentary briefly reviews a few dominant models of EFs in developmental and cognitive psychology and outlines issues to be addressed; it then illustrates how insights from neuroscience could help us eliminate redundant terminology and identify EFs that have been largely overlooked. Reaching a consensus regarding the core set of EFs will inform efforts to scaffold EF development and improve educational outcomes.

Executive function (EF) is represented by a multidimensional set of measures. The central EFs considered are inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility (task shifting). Unlike other ability constructs, it has proven difficult to identify latent factors that underlie EF. Research has often taken a factor analytic approach for grouping executive functioning tasks. However, this approach has often proven unsuccessful. We aimed to compare factor analysis to a network analytic approach, as network analysis can summarize the pattern of relationships among elements without creating latent constructs. One hundred and thirteen undergraduate students completed a series of nine executive functioning tasks. In comparing exploratory factor analysis to network analysis, we found neither approach provided a compelling higher order grouping of EF measures., (© 2024 The British Psychological Society.)

Young adults in a transitional period may experience more stress and, hence, suffer from an increased risk of unhealthy eating. Executive function (EF) involves not only inhibitory control and mental flexibility (the 'cool' facet) to facilitate resistance to immediate temptations, but also affective decision making (the 'hot' facet) that helps to regulate emotional eating. The effects of different facets of EF and their interactions with perceived stress on eating behaviours remained underexplored. In this study, 594 young adults in their graduation year of post-secondary education were included. We used latent profile analysis to identify major patterns of eating behaviours and analysed their associations with perceived stress, and both the 'cool' and 'hot' facets of EF using multinominal logistic regression models. Latent profile analysis identified three clusters of eating patterns: non-approaching moderate eaters (N = 312, 52.5%), approaching eaters (N = 229, 38.6%), and approaching-and-avoidant eaters (N = 53, 8.9%). Logistic regression models found that the approaching-and-avoidant eating pattern was associated with higher perceived stress (OR = 3.16, p value = 0.007) and poorer affective decision-making (OR = 0.97, p value = 0.006). Stratified analysis further revealed that higher perceived stress was significantly associated with approaching-and-avoidant eating only among individuals with poorer affective decision-making. These findings suggest that individuals with poorer emotional regulation may face greater difficulties in regulating eating behaviours when experiencing higher stress. Interventions for people with a mixed pattern of approaching-and-avoidance eating should focus on providing support to regulate emotion-related eating., (© 2024 The Authors. Stress and Health published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Executive function is a high-level set of cognitive processes related to goal-directed behaviors including two conceptual subtypes of hot (emotional) and cold (cognitive) executive function (to abbreviate EF). EF deficits in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) leads to significant social impairments in the home, school, and community. Today the type and the extent of executive function defects in ADHD are still debated in studies. We aimed to evaluate hot and cold executive function among medication-naive children with ADHD, with and without oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)., Methods: Forty-five children including suffering ADHD with ODD (n = 15), without ODD (n = 15), or typically developed (TD, n = 15) participated in this cross-sectional study (the age of children was between 7 and 12 years old). The Child Symptom Inventory-4 (CSI-4) was used to screen behavioral and emotional symptoms. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised-Digit Span Task (WAIS-R-DST), Corsi Block Task (CBT), and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were used for assessing cold executive function. Assessing hot executive function was done with Delay Discounting Task (DDT) and Iowa Gambling Task (IGT)., Results: Evaluating the cold executive function, total WAIS-R-DST score, Backward DST, total CBT score, and Backward CBT were significantly lower among ADHD than TD groups (p < 0.05). Assessing the hot executive function showed that the score of DDT and IGT was significantly lower among ADHD than TD groups (p < 0.05)., Conclusion: Both hot and cold executive functions are defective in children with ADHD, while the comorbid of ODD has no significant effect. We suggest the clinicians to consider cognitive rehabilitation interventions as a necessary treatment modality for ADHD patients., (© 2024 International Society for Developmental Neuroscience.)

Although it has been found that autistic children exhibit delays in executive function abilities and atypical patterns of attention, less is known about the relationship between executive function and attention abilities and social and language skills in early childhood. In this study, 180 autistic children, age 2-8 years, participated in a study examining the relationship between executive function abilities, measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, and assessments of sustained attention measured via eye-tracking and several language and social communication measures. Results revealed that children with higher caregiver-reported executive function skills, specifically, working memory and planning/organization abilities, demonstrated higher levels of caregiver-reported receptive-expressive social communication abilities measured via the Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory. Higher executive function abilities across all domains were associated with lower levels of social pragmatic problems. Children who were able to sustain their attention for a longer duration demonstrated higher expressive language abilities. These results suggest that executive function and attention skills may play an important role in multiple domains of functioning in autistic children. It will be useful to determine whether therapies that seek to improve executive function skills in autistic individuals also positively influence their social/communication and language abilities.

A single bout of exercise as well as exposure to a hypercapnic environment increases cerebral blood flow (CBF) and is an adaptation linked to a post-intervention executive function (EF) benefit. In the present investigation we sought to determine whether a transient reduction in CBF impairs EF. Accordingly, we employed 10-min -30 mmHg and  -50 mmHg lower-body negative pressure (LBNP) interventions as well as a non-LBNP control condition. LBNP was employed because it sequesters blood in the lower legs and safely and reliably decreases CBF. Transcranial Doppler ultrasound was used to measure middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAv) to estimate CBF prior to and during LBNP conditions. As well, assessments of the inhibitory control component of EF (i.e., antipointing) were completed prior to (pre-) and immediately after (i.e., post-) each condition. Antipointing requires that an individual reach mirror-symmetrical to an exogenously presented target and is a task providing the resolution to detect subtle EF changes. Results showed that LBNP produced a 14% reduction in MCAv; however, null hypothesis, equivalence and Bayesian contrasts indicated that antipointing metrics did not vary from pre- to post-intervention, and LBNP-based changes in MCAv magnitude were not reliably correlated with antipointing planning times. Hence, a 10-min reduction in CBF did not impact the efficiency or effectiveness of an inhibitory control measure of EF., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Executive function, which develops rapidly in childhood, enables problem-solving, focused attention, and planning. Animal models describe executive function decrements associated with ambient air pollution exposure, but epidemiologic studies are limited., Methods: We examined associations between early childhood air pollution exposure and school-aged executive function in 1235 children from three US pregnancy cohorts in the ECHO-PATHWAYS Consortium. We derived point-based residential exposures to ambient particulate matter ≤2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter (PM 2.5 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), and ozone (O 3 ) at ages 0-4 years from spatiotemporal models with a 2-week resolution. We assessed executive function across three domains, cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control, using performance-based measures and calculated a composite score quantifying overall performance. We fitted linear regressions to assess air pollution and child executive function associations, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, maternal mental health, and health behaviors, and examined modification by child sex, maternal education, and neighborhood educational opportunity., Results: In the overall sample, we found hypothesized inverse associations in crude but not adjusted models. Modified associations between NO 2 exposure and working memory by neighborhood education opportunity were present ( Pinteraction = 0.05), with inverse associations more pronounced in the "high" and "very high" categories. Associations of interest did not differ by child sex or maternal education., Conclusion: This work contributes to the evolving science regarding early-life environmental exposures and child development. There remains a need for continued exploration in future research endeavors, to elucidate the complex interplay between natural environment and social determinants influencing child neurodevelopment., Competing Interests: Disclosure: The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Theories of adolescent development suggest that elevated neural sensitivity to social evaluation confers tradeoffs for adolescents' wellbeing, promoting adaptation to changing social contexts but increasing risk for emotional distress and depression. This study investigated whether the association between neural processing of peer feedback and depressive symptoms depends on teacher-reported executive function (EF) ability in adolescent girls. Girls showed activation to negative and positive peer feedback in regions implicated in social-emotional processing that interacted with EF to predict depressive symptoms. Specifically, activation predicted more depression in youth with poorer EF but less depression in youth with better EF, suggesting that the impact of increased social sensitivity may depend on youths' ability to regulate this sensitivity in adaptive ways., (© 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Blast-related mild traumatic brain injury (BR mTBI) is a critical research area in recent combat veterans due to increased prevalence of survived blasts. Post-BR mTBI outcomes are highly heterogeneous and defining neurological differences may help in discrimination and prediction of cognitive outcomes. This study investigates whether white matter integrity, measured with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), could influence how remote BR mTBI history is associated with executive control. The sample included 151 Veterans from the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center who were administered a clinical/TBI assessment, neuropsychological battery, and DTI scan as part of a larger battery. From previous research, six white matter tracts were identified as having a putative relationship with blast severity: the cingulum, hippocampal cingulum, corticospinal tract, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus and uncinate. Fractional anisotropy (FA) of the a priori selected white matter tracts and report of BR mTBI were used as predictors of Trail-Making Test B (TMT-B) performance in a multiple linear regression model. Statistical analysis revealed that FA of the hippocampal cingulum moderated the association between report of at least one BR mTBI and poorer TMT-B performance (p < 0.008), such that lower FA value was associated with worse TMT-B outcomes in individuals with BR mTBI. No significant moderation existed for other selected tracts, and the effect was not observed with predictors aside from history of BR mTBI. Investigation at the individual-tract level may lead to a deeper understanding of neurological differences between blast-related and non-blast related injuries., (© 2024. This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.)

Executive function (EF) abilities have been linked to numerous important life outcomes. We longitudinally characterized EF and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) trajectories across adolescence (initial ages 8-19). Utilizing 3 years of annual data in 99 youth collected between years 2016 and 2020 (70.7% White, 40 females), we examined how age, puberty, and ADHD symptom burden related to EF across time. Age and puberty levels interacted to predict EF such that older youth with higher puberty had lower EF. While EF and ADHD significantly predicted each other, cross-lagged panel models revealed that earlier EF predicted later ADHD burden while controlling for baseline ADHD burden, but not vice versa. These findings inform our understanding of the dynamics between EF and mental health in adolescence., (© 2023 The Authors. Child Development © 2023 Society for Research in Child Development.)

This research aimed to 1) study the level of self-efficacy, self-awareness, social skills, and executive function of undergraduate students, 2) study the relationship among self-efficacy, self-awareness, social skills, and executive function of undergraduate students, and 3) investigate the effect of self-efficacy, self-awareness, and social skills on executive function in undergraduate students. The sample used in the study was 400 undergraduate students from Mahasarakham University in the academic year 2021, selected by multi-stage random sampling. The research instruments included four questionnaires including self-efficacy, self-awareness, social skills, and executive function questionnaire. The statistics used in the data analysis were percentage, mean (M), standard deviation (S.D.), and multiple regression analysis. The results revealed that 1) students' self-efficacy, self-awareness, social skills, and executive function, in general, were at a very high level. 2) There were statistically significant at the 0.01 level correlations between students' self-efficacy, self-awareness, social skills, and executive function. 3) Students' self-efficacy (SELE), self-awareness (SELA), and social skills (SOCS) affected executive function, with a prediction of 70.20%.

Literacy ability is an individual's ability to reason, formulate, solve, and interpret mathematically to solve problems related to daily life. Executive function is a cognitive aspect that has a relation with mathematical literacy. One of some aspects that affects the low mathematical literacy ability is the aspect of executive function. This study aims to investigate the characteristics of mathematical literacy based on the executive function aspects of 15 years old students. A qualitative method with a descriptive approach is employed in this study. The present research applies interview guidelines, questionnaires, and students' mathematical literacy tests as the instruments. Research subjects are junior high school students in grade VIII from two different schools. The result shows that the students' executive function influences mathematical literacy ability. Students' mathematical literacy ability is not fully achieved by fulfilling all the indicators involved. Another aspect found in the research is the low critical thinking ability impacts the achievement of mathematical literacy ability indicators.

The present study aims to examine the Executive Function (EF) skills of preschool-aged children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH), and explore the variables related to their EF skills. Thirty preschoolers who were DHH and an additional 35 preschoolers with typical hearing were recruited. All DHH use spoken language as their communication mode, and wore hearing devices. Results revealed that preschoolers who are DHH are delayed in some EF skills, particularly inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility. Interestingly, in working memory, they exhibit age-appropriate verbal working memory, whereas they do not have an advantage over their hearing peers in visual-spatial working memory. Correlational results showed that working memory is related to language skills, while inhibitory control is related to the age of auditory exposure and early intervention. Thus, the results highlight the importance of early auditory exposure and early intervention, as well as language, in EF development in preschoolers who are DHH.

In recent years awareness of the importance of executive function (EF) skills for students' academic growth has increased. Research suggests that experience in school promotes EF development; however, recommendations regarding evidence-based practices that educators can use to support EF in their classrooms are limited. Here we outline two main reasons that this may be the case. First, there are significant challenges in the measurement of EF, which have implications for our understanding of how children use EF skills in support of learning in the moment and in real-world settings like the classroom. Second, there is limited direct research on the types of classroom experiences that promote EF. In describing both, we highlight emerging evidence and new methods that are helping us better understand the development of EF and the ways in which school experiences shape this growth, which will ultimately inform the development of school-based strategies to promote these skills.

Early childhood marks a pivotal period in the maturation of executive function, the cognitive ability to consciously regulate actions and thoughts. Mindfulness-based interventions have shown promise in bolstering executive function in children. This study used the functional near-infrared spectroscopy technique to explore the impact of mindfulness-based training on young children. Brain imaging data were collected from 68 children (41 boys, aged 61.8 ± 10.7 months) who were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (N = 37, aged 60.03 ± 11.14 months) or a control group (N = 31, aged 59.99 ± 10.89 months). Multivariate and multiscale sample entropy analyses were used. The results showed that: (1) brain complexity was reduced in the intervention group after receiving the mindfulness-based intervention in all three executive function tasks (ps < 0.05), indicating a more efficient neural processing mechanism after the intervention; (2) difference comparisons between the intervention and control groups showed significant differences in relevant brain regions during cognitive shifting (left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and medial prefrontal cortex) and working memory tasks (left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex), which corroborates with improved behavioral results in the intervention group (Z = -3.674, P < 0.001 for cognitive shifting; Z = 2.594, P < 0.01 for working memory). These findings improve our understanding of early brain development in young children and highlight the neural mechanisms by which mindfulness-based interventions affect executive function. Implications for early intervention to promote young children's brain development are also addressed., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press.)

Objective: The main aim of this research was to determine the relationships among executive function, fitness mobile applications (APPs), physical exercise activity and physical education consumption in community-dwelling older empty nesters., Methods: A cross-sectional design was applied to evaluate the relationships. A sample of 1104 community-dwelling older empty nesters completed the experiments. Physical education consumption scale, fitness APPs by smartphone application scale, physical exercise activity scale, and executive function scale were applied for the evaluation of the elderly alone in urban communities in southeast China. To explore mediating effects, structural equation modeling of AMOS 23.0, SPSS 25.0 and Process V3.5 software packages were applied for statistical processing., Result: Physical education consumption positively predicted executive function. Meanwhile, it was also found that physical education consumption and executive function were continuously mediated by fitness APP application and physical exercise activity, with indirect effect value of 0.267, accounting for 76 %., Conclusion: This research revealed how physical education consumption affected executive function of older empty nesters. The obtained results had certain implications for older empty nesters to better balance their executive function and life quality. Community managers should provide older empty nesters with favorable physical education environments in terms of positive physical and psychological environments, to improve their use ratio of fitness APPs usage and physical exercise activity, ultimately enhancing their executive function and life satisfaction., 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 B.V. All rights reserved.)

Lay Abstract: Autistic people are more likely to consider suicide than non-autistic people, with transition-aged youth (ages 16-21 years) at potentially the highest risk. Research has also shown that difficulties with executive functioning (e.g., difficulties with organization, sequencing, and decision-making) may heighten suicide risk among non-autistic people, but it is not clear whether this is also true for autistic people. This study explored this question by asking 183 transition-aged autistic youth about their experience with suicidal behavior and examining the relationship between their responses and additional measures of depression, autistic traits, and executive function skills. About one-third of autistic transition-aged youth (33.3%) said that they had experienced thoughts of hurting themselves with the intent to end their lives (i.e., suicidal ideation). Both depression and executive function challenges predicted suicide risk (i.e., participants who experienced depression were more likely to have had suicidal thoughts than those who had not, and participants who had more difficulty with executive function skills were more likely to have had suicidal thoughts than those who had less difficulty). These findings suggest that executive functioning, a common area of difficulty among autistic people, is an important indicator of suicide risk in this population., 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.

Objective: To examine the longitudinal associations between irisin and executive function among children, as well as the sex difference in this correlation., Methods: The study involving 330 children aged 6-10 years conducted in Guangzhou, China. Baseline surveys and fasting blood samples were collected in 2017. Plasma irisin concentration was measured using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Executive function was assessed by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) scale in 2017 and followed up after 2 years. Multivariable linear regression was used for association analysis., Results: The plasma irisin concentration was 9.04±2.18 ng/mL. There was no statistical difference in plasma irisin and change values of BRIEF T-scores between boys and girls. No significant associations were found between plasma irisin and change values of BRIEF T-scores (P > 0.05) in the overall sample. Further subgroup analyses according to sex revealed that plasma irisin was negatively associated with change values of behavior regulation index (BRI, β=-0.521, 95 %CI: -1.036 ∼ -0.006), emotional control (β=-0.649, 95 %CI: -1.249 ∼ -0.049), working memory T-scores (β=-0.774, 95 %CI: -1.350 ∼ -0.199) in girls. Moreover, we firstly identified a sex effect modification in the association of plasma irisin with change values of working memory T-score (P interference =0.012)., Conclusions: Higher irisin concentration was associated with better executive function performance in girls. Further studies that included populations in other regions or countries are needed to confirm these findings., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

ABSTRACT Precrastination is the act of completing a task as soon as possible even at the expense of extra effort. Past research has suggested that individuals precrastinate due to a desire to reduce their cognitive load, also known as the cognitive load-reduction (CLEAR) hypothesis [VonderHaar, R. L., McBride, D. M., & Rosenbaum, D. A. (2019). Task order choices in cognitive and perceptual-motor tasks: The cognitive-load-reduction (CLEAR) hypothesis. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 81 (7), 2517-2525. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-019-01754-z]. This idea stems from the notion that it is taxing to hold intentions in working memory and completing a task as soon as possible releases cognitive resources for other tasks. Based on this hypothesis, we predicted that aspects of executive function may play a role in precrastination. We tested this prediction using a box-moving task developed in a previous study to measure precrastination. We also incorporated tasks measuring updating and inhibition aspects of executive function: the Stroop interference (both experiments) and Simon tasks (Experiment 2) to measure inhibition and the 2-Back memory task (Experiment 1) to measure updating. We found that the majority of participants precrastinated significantly throughout the box-moving task trials, consistent with results from past studies. However, no relation was found between the executive function tasks and rates of precrastination. These results may be due to the automaticity of precrastination when cognitive resources are limited.

Children reared in institutional settings experience early deprivation that has lasting implications for multiple aspects of neurocognitive functioning, including executive function (EF). Changes in brain development are thought to contribute to these persistent EF challenges, but little research has used fMRI to investigate EF-related brain activity in children with a history of early deprivation. This study examined behavioral and neural data from a response conflict task in 12-14-year-olds who spent varying lengths of time in institutional care prior to adoption (N = 84; age at adoption - mean: 15.85 months, median: 12 months, range: 4-60 months). In initial analyses, earlier- and later-adopted (EA, LA) youth were compared to a group of children raised in their biological families (non-adopted, NA). NA youth performed significantly more accurately than LA youth, with EA youth falling in between. Imaging data suggested that previously institutionalized (PI) youth activated additional frontoparietal regions, including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, as compared to NA youth. In addition, EA youth uniquely activated medial prefrontal regions, and LA uniquely activated parietal regions during this task. A separate analysis in a larger group of PI youth examined whether behavioral or brain measures of EF varied with the duration of deprivation experienced. Duration of deprivation was negatively associated with activation of default mode network (DMN) regions. Overall, results suggest that there are lasting effects of deprivation on EF, but that those who are removed from institutional care earlier may be able to recruit additional neural resources as a compensatory mechanism., 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.)

Purpose: Executive function (EF) impairment and vitamin D deficiency are common clinical features among children with epilepsy (CWE). Recently, vitamin D has become a potential modification factor that affects cognitive status in individuals with neurological disorders. In this study, we investigated the association between EF status and vitamin D levels in patients with CWE., Methods: In total, 79 CWE patients and 39 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited in this study. Each participant's EF was assessed using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Parent form (Brief-P), and the serum level of 25-OH vitamin D was measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)., Results: Compared with those in the HC group, the CWE group had higher T scores of Brief-P scale, including global executive composite (GEC) (51.01(45.12, 60.69) vs. 44.08(39.24, 49.96), p＜0.001), behavioral regulation index (BRI) (51.29(45.67, 59.13) vs. 45.67(40.06, 51.29), p＜0.001), metacognition index (MI) (51.83(46.77, 59.43) vs. 46.13(40.44, 51.83), p＜0.001), and lower serum vitamin D (14.85(10.24,23.2) vs. 22.5(16.91,30), p＜0.001) levels. After adjustment for covariates, multivariate linear regression models suggested that for every 1 ng/ml increase in vitamin D, the GEC, BRI, and MI would decrease by 0.52 (Coeff = -0.48; 95 % CI = -0.69, -0.26; p = 0.000), 0.45 (Coeff = -0.45; 95 % CI = -0.69, -0.20; p = 0.000), and 0.47 (Coeff = -0.45; 95 % CI = -0.67, -0.22; p = 0.000), respectively., Conclusion: There may be an association between decreased vitamin D levels and EF impairment in CWE. Future research should consider longitudinal variations in EF related to improving vitamin D deficiency., 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.)

The present study investigated the performance of children with neurofibromatosis type 1 on computerized assessments of attention and executive function. Relations to ADHD symptomatology were also examined. Participants included 37 children (20 male) with NF1 (9-13 years; M age  = 11.02). Participants completed the NIH Toolbox Dimensional Change Card Sort, List Sort Working Memory (LSWM), and Flanker tasks, as well as Cogstate Identification and One Back tests. ADHD symptomatology was assessed using the K-SADS. Average performance was significantly different from the normative mean on every measure, except LSWM. The NIH Toolbox Flanker and Cogstate Identification tasks detected the highest proportion of participants with at least mild difficulty, and the Cogstate Identification task detected the highest proportion of participants with severe difficulty. Analyses revealed significant relations with ADHD symptomatology for two NIH toolbox tasks. The various computerized measures of attention and executive function offer different information when working with school age children with NF1. The NIH Flanker may offer the most room for change and offers face validity, which may be beneficial for clinical trials research. However, the LSWM shows most support for relations with behavioral indicators of attention and executive challenges.

Objective: The ability to remotely monitor cognitive skills is increasing with the ubiquity of smartphones. The Mobile Toolbox (MTB) is a new measurement system that includes measures assessing Executive Functioning (EF) and Processing Speed (PS): Arrow Matching, Shape-Color Sorting, and Number-Symbol Match. The purpose of this study was to assess their psychometric properties., Method: MTB measures were developed for smartphone administration based on constructs measured in the NIH Toolbox® (NIHTB). Psychometric properties of the resulting measures were evaluated in three studies with participants ages 18 to 90. In Study 1 ( N = 92), participants completed MTB measures in the lab and were administered both equivalent NIH TB measures and other external measures of similar cognitive constructs. In Study 2 ( N = 1,021), participants completed the equivalent NIHTB measures in the lab and then took the MTB measures on their own, remotely. In Study 3 ( N = 168), participants completed MTB measures twice remotely, two weeks apart., Results: All three measures exhibited very high internal consistency and strong test-retest reliability, as well as moderately high correlations with comparable NIHTB tests and moderate correlations with external measures of similar constructs. Phone operating system (iOS vs. Android) had a significant impact on performance for Arrow Matching and Shape-Color Sorting, but no impact on either validity or reliability., Conclusions: Results support the reliability and convergent validity of MTB EF and PS measures for use across the adult lifespan in remote, self-administered designs.

Screen-based sedentary behavior (SSB) is a significant risk factor for the health of school-aged children, and guidelines recommend limiting SSB to 2 hr per day. This study aimed to examine association and potential mechanisms between SSB and executive function (EF) by comparing Stroop performance and frontal hemodynamic responses between children with and without excessive SSB. A total of 70 children aged 10 to 15 years were recruited and divided into two groups: excessive screen time (≥2 hr/day; n = 35; ES group) and normal screen time (<2 hr/day; n = 35; NS group). The Chinese version of the Adolescent Sedentary Activities Questionnaire was used to assess SSB, whereas EF was evaluated using the Stroop task. The frontal hemodynamic responses during the Stroop task were measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The results indicated that the ES group had lower accuracy, longer reaction times, and greater activation in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and left pre-supplementary motor area (Pre-SMA) compared with the NS group. Furthermore, significant correlations were observed between Stroop performance and cortical activation in the left DLPFC and Pre-SMA. These findings demonstrate that excessive SSB is associated with poor EF, which may be explained by a decrease in neural efficiency of the left DLPFC and Pre-SMA., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: We investigated the effect of perivascular spaces (PVS) volume on speeded executive function (sEF), as mediated by white matter hyperintensities (WMH) volume and plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in neurodegenerative diseases., Methods: A mediation analysis was performed to assess the relationship between neuroimaging markers and plasma biomarkers on sEF in 333 participants clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease/mild cognitive impairment, frontotemporal dementia, or cerebrovascular disease from the Ontario Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative., Results: PVS was significantly associated with sEF (c = -0.125 ± 0.054, 95% bootstrap confidence interval [CI] [-0.2309, -0.0189], p = 0.021). This effect was mediated by both GFAP and WMH., Discussion: In this unique clinical cohort of neurodegenerative diseases, we demonstrated that the effect of PVS on sEF was mediated by the presence of elevated plasma GFAP and white matter disease. These findings highlight the potential utility of imaging and plasma biomarkers in the current landscape of therapeutics targeting dementia., Highlights: Perivascular spaces (PVS) and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) are imaging markers of small vessel disease. Plasma glial fibrillary protein acidic protein (GFAP) is a biomarker of astroglial injury. PVS, WMH, and GFAP are relevant in executive dysfunction from neurodegeneration. PVS's effect on executive function was mediated by GFAP and white matter disease., (© 2024 The Author(s). Alzheimer's & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.)

Introduction: Ambulatory assessment of executive function - particularly in the form working memory (WM) - is increasingly common. Few studies to date, however, have also incorporated ambulatory measures of inhibitory control. Critically, the extended within-person reliability of ambulatory tasks tapping each of these constructs has been largely overlooked., Method: Participants ( N  = 283, M age  = 23.74 years, SD  = 9.04) received notifications every 3 days (for 4 weeks) to undertake ambulatory assessment versions of the n -Back and Stop-Signal Tasks (SST) via the smartphone application CheckCog. Within-person reliability of these measures was explored., Results: Compliance ranged from 66% (for eight sessions) to 89% (for four sessions). Our results reveal significant changes in performance within the first two sessions for both the n -Back and SST, with performance remaining largely consistent across the remaining (two to eight) sessions. In terms of test-retest reliability, the ICC (C, 1) values ranged from .29 to .68 on the n -Back (with overall accuracy being .51) and .31-.73 on the SST (with stop-signal reaction time being .53)., Conclusion: The results of the current study contribute to the literature by demonstrating the reliability of brief measures of executive function - in the form of inhibitory control and WM - delivered using smartphones in participants' natural environments. Based on our findings, the CheckCog app reliability tracks baseline systematic changes in WM and response inhibition across multiple time points and for an extended period in healthy individuals.

This study examined the effectiveness of telehealth parent coaching on occupational performance and executive functions of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) and executive function deficits and parent self-efficacy. A one group pretest-posttest design was implemented with nine parents of children with ADHD ages 7-12 years old. The intervention consisted of ten, 60-minute, individual sessions, one per week delivered via telehealth. The parent program had three coaching components: goal setting, education, and the problem-solving process. Using strategies from the Four-Quadrant Model of Facilitated Learning , the results showed statistical improvement in performance and satisfaction of occupational performance and all executive functions scores of children except for the Shift and Emotional Control. Parent self-efficacy was also improved. These preliminary results suggest that the telehealth parent coaching program may potentially support a family who has a child with ADHD and executive function deficits.

Objective: The executive function profile in patients with narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) has been mentioned; however, limited research exists on children and adolescent patients with NT1.This study aims to assess executive function in children and adolescent patients with NT1 in China, examine potential influencing factors and evaluate the short-term treatment effect on executive function., Methods: 53 NT1 patients (36 males, age 12.2 ± 3.4 years) and 37 healthy controls (23 males, age 12.2 ± 2.5 years) underwent self-reported measures assessing subjective sleepiness, depression, anxiety and sleep quality. A comprehensive neuropsychological test was administered to assess executive function domains, including processing speed, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and working memory. These assessments were repeated in NT1 patients after three-day regular drug treatment., Results: NT1 patients exhibited higher levels of excessive daytime sleepiness, depression, anxiety, and poor sleep quality compared to healthy controls. Patients showed impaired processing speed, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility (p < 0.05), whereas working memory was unaffected (p > 0.05). Regression analysis revealed that parameters from sleep monitoring, such as sleep efficiency and sleep latency, were correlated with executive function performance after controlling for age, gender, and education years. The short-term treatment led to improvements in inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory., Conclusion: The findings showed that executive function was impaired among children and adolescent patients with NT1, which was associated with objective sleep parameters. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the necessity of neuropsychological assessments and early interventions among children and adolescent NT1 patients., 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 B.V.)

Background: Limited knowledge exists regarding the effectiveness of aquatic exercise intervention for improving executive function (EF) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Additionally, the impact of aquatic exercise on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in children with ASD requires further investigation., Aims: This study aimed to explore the effects of a 12-week aquatic exercise intervention on core EF and BDNF levels in children with ASD., Methods and Procedures: Thirty children with ASD were assigned to an experimental or control group. The experimental group underwent a 12-week aquatic exercise intervention, while the control group engaged in supervised free activities. Pre- and post-intervention assessments measured EF and BDNF levels., Outcomes and Results: The experimental group showed significant improvements (p < 0.05) in inhibition control, cognitive flexibility, and BDNF levels. However, working memory did not significantly improve. The control group exhibited no significant changes in EF or BDNF levels., Conclusions and Implications: Aquatic exercise appears to be a beneficial intervention for cognitive development in children with ASD, as it enhances inhibition control, cognitive flexibility, and BDNF levels in children with ASD. Furthermore, the observed improvements in EF following aquatic exercise intervention in children with ASD may be associated with increased BDNF levels., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)