Cognitive Connie
What are executive functions?
Executive functions are the high-level cognitive processes that allow us to regulate, control, and adapt our behaviour in pursuit of goals. They are the brain's "control system" — overseeing and directing other mental processes rather than performing any single task themselves.
Key figures
A 25-year-old railway construction foreman whose orbitofrontal cortex was destroyed by a tamping iron in 1848. He survived but was reportedly transformed — from conscientious and efficient to impulsive, inconsiderate, and unable to follow through on plans. His case provided the first clear evidence that the frontal lobe governs personality regulation and decision-making.
Key concepts
Inhibitory control↗
The ability to suppress prepotent (automatic) responses and filter out distracting information. Measured by the Stroop task (suppressing the habitual response of reading a word to name its ink colour instead), the go/no-go task, and the stop-signal task. Inhibitory control develops rapidly in early childhood and is disproportionately impaired in ADHD.
Cognitive flexibility
The ability to shift between mental sets, tasks, or perspectives — sometimes called "task switching" or "mental set shifting." Measured by tasks such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), in which the sorting rule changes without warning. Cognitive flexibility requires both inhibiting the previously relevant rule and activating the new one.
Working memory
The ability to hold information in mind and mentally manipulate it over seconds. Working memory is distinct from short-term memory: it involves active processing, not passive storage. It is central to mental arithmetic, following multi-step instructions, and comprehending complex sentences. Baddeley and Hitch's (1974) model describes a central executive overseeing two subsidiary systems: the phonological loop (verbal/acoustic information) and the visuospatial sketchpad (visual and spatial information).
Prefrontal cortex↗
The anterior portion of the frontal lobe, particularly its dorsolateral and ventrolateral regions, is the primary neural substrate of executive function. The dorsolateral PFC is associated with working memory and planning; the orbitofrontal cortex with impulse control and decision-making under uncertainty. Disruption of PFC connectivity — through injury, ADHD, or ageing — produces characteristic executive deficits.
Test your knowledge
Sources
Last reviewed July 2025- 1.
Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex "frontal lobe" tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49–100. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
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Latent variable analysis establishing three separable but correlated executive functions: inhibition, updating, and task shifting.
- 2.
Baddeley, A. D. (1996). Exploring the central executive. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 49A(1), 5–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/027249896392784
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Baddeley's characterisation of the central executive as the attentional control component coordinating working memory subsystems.
- 3.
Damasio, H., Grabowski, T., Frank, R., Galaburda, A. M., & Damasio, A. R. (1994). The return of Phineas Gage: Clues about the brain from the skull of a famous patient. Science, 264(5162), 1102–1105. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.8178168
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Reconstruction of Phineas Gage's brain injury confirming orbitofrontal damage and its link to impaired decision-making and personality regulation.