The 11 executive functions of the human brain

This set of mental abilities allows us to adapt to our environment psychologically.

Let's think about anything we have done, are doing or have to do. For example, I am writing this article. I am listening to the speaker at a conference or the teacher in class. I have to go shopping before the store closes. These seem like simple things to do, but each of these actions involves a series of high-level cognitive processes that enable me to carry them out.

These processes are called executive functionsthanks to which we are able to act with a specific purpose.

Defining executive functions

Executive functions are understood as the set of skills and cognitive processes that allow us to successfully adapt to the environment and The 11 executive functions of the human brainThis set of mental abilities allows us to adapt to our environment psychologically.

Let's think about anything we have done, are doing or have to do. For example, I am writing this article. I am listening to the speaker at a conference or the teacher in class. I have to go shopping before the store closes. These seem like simple things to do, but each of these actions involves a series of high-level cognitive processes that enable me to carry them out. These processes are called executive functionsthanks to which we are able to act with a specific purpose.

Defining executive functions

Executive functions are understood as the set of skills and cognitive processes that allow us to successfully adapt to the environment and solve problems from the integration of the different information available, being able to perform proactive behaviors thanks to them.

and can perform propositional behaviors thanks to them. In general, it can be considered that they are in charge of controlling and self-regulating mental activity and cognitive resources, participating in aspects such as motivation or morale as well as in information processing and behavior control. It is a set of skills that are not completely innate, but are acquired and developed throughout the life cycle and development of the individual. In fact, some of them do not some of them do not finish maturing until around the age of twenty-five, this being linked to the development of the individual.

This is linked to brain maturation. Also, executive functions tend to decline with aging, both normatively and in the presence of neurological problems.

• Brain location

The brain region that has been most closely linked to these functions is located in the frontal lobe. Specifically, it is a part of the frontal lobe, the prefrontal cortex, that is most relevant in managing this set of skills.

Damage to this region will lead to serious difficulties in the higher mental processes that allow behavioral management

that allow the management of behavior, as can be observed in different disorders and traumas. Moreover, the development of executive functions is largely linked to the maturation of the prefrontal cortex, which does not occur until adulthood.

But this does not mean that executive functions are due solely to the prefrontal cortex. After all, the information that allows processes such as planning and processes such as planning and reasoning to be carried out comes largely from other brain areas. comes in large part from other brain areas. For example, structures such as the limbic system, the hippocampus, the basal ganglia or the cerebellum stand out.

In fact, all complex brain processes are carried out by networks of nerve cells distributed throughout the brain, and executive functions are no exception to this rule. Thus, the areas specialized in certain functions are so only in part, in a relative way, and in many cases even if they are damaged, part of their work can be carried out by other networks of neurons over time.

As we have said, by executive functions we mean a set of skills and processes of great utility for our survival and adaptation. But what are they? Some of the main and most important are the following.

Reasoning

Being able to

use the different information and see the possible connections between them, as well as to as well as to elaborate possible explanations.2. Planning

This executive function is the one that allows us to elaborate action plans.

. It allows us to generate a series of steps that will lead us to a specific goal.

3. Goal setting

Linked to motivation, this is the ability that allows us to decide how to invest our energies and where to direct our behaviors.

4. Decision-making

This is the skill that allows us to determine which option to choose among the multiple options that may be presented to us.

5. Task initiation and completion

Although it may seem strange, initiating tasks at a specific time involves significant cognitive activity. The same is true for the ability to determine when an action should be completed.

6. Organization

This is the ability to bring together and structure information in an efficient and useful way. 7. InhibitionThe capacity of inhibition is another of the executive functions and one of the most relevant. It is the ability that allows us to regulate our actions by stopping our behavior.

• It makes us able to resist specific impulses, stop an action and prevent it from occurring.

It makes us able to resist specific impulses, stop an action and prevent harmless information from interfering with our behavior.

8. Monitoring

It refers to the ability to maintain attention on the task and regulate what and how we are doing what we are doing.

9. Verbal and non-verbal working memory This refers to the ability to information in such a way that the subject can operate with it later on.

later. Both verbal and nonverbal.

This capacity allows us to foresee in advance the results of an action and/or its consequences. It is a projection into the future of our memories, what we have learned through experience. 11. FlexibilityThe ability to be flexible is that which

allows us to change our way of acting or thinking in the face of possible environmental changes or to change

environmental changes or modify ongoing actions. Some disorders in which they appear alteredDifferent disorders and lesions in the brain

can cause that the executive functions cannot be carried out correctly, causing important adaptation problems. Some of the disorders that affect this area can occur from childhood, as is the case with people suffering from ADHD. These children present problems such as difficulties in initiating a task, inhibition and the ability to make and follow plans, or problems in retaining information in the

• or problems in retaining information in working memory.
• Other disorders in which this happens are dementias, in which the neurodegenerative process causes an impairment that makes it difficult to maintain executive functions. Examples of this can be found in dementias such as that caused by Huntington's chorea disease, or frontal dementias.
• In any case, even without any kind of disorder executive functions usually begin to show some decline from the sixth decade of life onwards, in a normalized manner.in a normalized manner.
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