35 Questions
Which area is important for action initiation in people with Parkinson's disease?
Premotor cortex (PMC)
Which brain region is active for voluntarily switching between two tasks?
Frontal polar cortex
Which task is sensitive to frontal lobe impairment and requires people to ignore irrelevant information and switch strategies?
Wisconsin Card-sorting task
Which brain region is important for computing errors and identifying conflict?
Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)
Which brain region is active when people must maintain the goal indicated by a cue and increases in activity when people must switch tasks?
Premotor cortex (PMC)
What is the main function of the prefrontal cortex in relation to executive functions?
Evaluating reward and novelty
Which area of the brain is typically associated with impairments in executive functions following traumatic injury?
Frontal (and parietal) lobes
What is a key capacity involved in human cognition, distinguishing it from primates?
Executive function
What is the main difference between controlled and automatic processing in cognitive control?
Actively allocate resources vs. non-allocating resources
What is a common impairment observed in individuals with frontal lobe damage in relation to initiating actions?
Trouble initiating actions
What is the main function of the prefrontal cortex in relation to executive functions?
Initiating actions and sequencing
What is a common impairment observed in individuals with frontal lobe damage in relation to initiating actions?
Difficulty in initiating daily activities without prompting
Which brain region is active for voluntarily switching between two tasks?
dLPFC
What is a key capacity involved in human cognition, distinguishing it from primates?
Initiating and maintaining a goal
Which area of the brain is typically associated with impairments in executive functions following traumatic injury?
Frontal polar
What is the main difference between controlled and automatic processing in cognitive control?
Controlled processing requires active resource allocation, while automatic processing does not
Which task is sensitive to frontal lobe impairment and requires people to ignore irrelevant information and switch strategies?
Set shifting and modifying goals or strategies
Which brain region is active for voluntarily switching between two tasks, especially when an active voluntary choice is made?
Frontal polar cortex
Which task is sensitive to frontal lobe impairment and requires people to ignore irrelevant information and switch strategies?
Wisconsin Card-sorting task
Which brain region is important for computing errors and identifying conflict?
Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)
Which brain region is typically associated with impairments in executive functions following traumatic injury?
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dLPFC)
Which area of the brain is important for action initiation in people with Parkinson's disease?
Premotor cortex (PMC)
Which brain region is active when people must maintain the goal indicated by a cue and increases in activity when people must switch tasks?
Premotor cortex (PMC)
Which brain region is active for initiating movements and is involved in Parkinson's disease?
Basal ganglia (BG)
Which brain region is active for evaluating effort in a study involving squeezing to get apples for a reward?
Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)
Match the following brain regions with their roles in executive functions:
Premotor cortex (PMC) and Supplementary motor area (SMA) = Important for action initiation Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) = Active for evaluating effort in a study involving squeezing for a reward Frontal polar cortex = Active for voluntarily switching between two tasks, especially when an active voluntary choice is made Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dLPFC) = Active for sequencing and planning tasks such as Tower of London task and self-ordered pointing task
Match the following tasks with their descriptions:
Wisconsin Card-sorting task = Requires people to strategize, ignore irrelevant information, switch, learn from feedback, retrieve and monitor working memory Self-ordered pointing task = Involves picking different images every time and judging how recently they were seen Tower of London task = Involves moving balls on pegs to a goal position and planning the moves Go/No go task = Involves inhibiting a response on 'no-go' trials
Match the following brain regions with their roles in cognitive control:
Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) = Important for computing errors and identifying conflict Supplementary motor area (SMA) = Active when people must maintain the goal indicated by a cue and increases in activity when people must switch tasks Superior parietal lobule = More active for 4-move and 5-move trials in tasks like the Tower of London task Anterior insula cortex (AIC) = Active for error-related negativity and evaluating error for learning
Match the following impairments with their associated brain regions:
Impaired goal maintenance and switching = Associated with damage to premotor cortex (PMC) and Supplementary motor area (SMA) Impaired voluntary switching = Associated with damage to frontal polar cortex Impaired sequencing and planning = Associated with damage to Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dLPFC) Impaired inhibition = Associated with damage to Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)
Match the following tasks with their sensitivity to frontal lobe impairment:
Wisconsin Card-sorting task = Sensitive to frontal lobe impairment and requires people to ignore irrelevant information and switch strategies Go/No go task = Sensitive to frontal lobe impairment and requires inhibiting a response on 'no-go' trials Tower of London task = Sensitive to frontal lobe impairment and requires planning and monitoring of moves Self-ordered pointing task = Sensitive to frontal lobe impairment and involves judging how recently images were seen
Match the following brain regions with their roles in cognitive control:
Premotor cortex (PMC) = Important for action initiation Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) = Computing errors and identifying conflict Supplementary motor area (SMA) = Active when people must maintain the goal indicated by a cue and increases in activity when people must switch tasks Frontal polar cortex = Active for voluntarily switching between two tasks, especially when an active voluntary choice is made
Match the following tasks with their sensitivity to frontal lobe impairment:
Self-ordered pointing task = Sensitive to frontal lobe impairment and requires people to ignore irrelevant information and switch strategies Wisconsin Card-sorting task = Sensitive to frontal lobe impairment and requires people to ignore irrelevant information and switch strategies Tower of London task = Sensitive to frontal lobe impairment and requires people to ignore irrelevant information and switch strategies Go/No go task = Sensitive to frontal lobe impairment and requires people to ignore irrelevant information and switch strategies
Match the following impairments with their associated brain regions:
Parkinson's disease = Involvement of Premotor cortex (PMC), Supplementary motor area (SMA), and anterior cingulate Frontal lesions = Involvement of Supplementary motor area (SMA) and anterior cingulate for evaluating effort Hippocampal lesions = Involvement of dLPFC for judging recency SCZ (schizophrenia) = Involvement of dLPFC for Wisconsin Card-sorting task
Match the following brain regions with their roles in executive functions:
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dLPFC) = Active for voluntarily switching between two tasks, especially when an active voluntary choice is made Basal ganglia (BG) = Involved in action initiation and difficulty initiating movements in Parkinson's disease Superior parietal lobule = More active for 4-move and 5-move trials in Tower of London task Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) = Important for computing errors and identifying conflict
Match the following tasks with their descriptions:
Tower of London task = Involves moving balls on pegs with planning and performance evaluation Wisconsin Card-sorting task = Requires people to match a set of cards to one of four key cards and switch rules based on feedback Self-ordered pointing task = Involves picking different images each time and judging recency Go/No go task = Involves inhibiting a response on 'no-go' trials
Study Notes
Executive Functions
- Executive functions: a group of global processes that allow us to select, plan, sequence, organize, flexibly execute, and evaluate behavior.
- Associated with frontal (and parietal) lobes, which are key capacities involved in human cognition.
- Impaired when having a traumatic injury.
Cognitive Control
- Controlled (actively allocate resources) vs automatic processing.
- Involves selecting, scheduling, switching, or inhibiting.
Case of Dr. P
- Damage to the frontal lobe during facial surgery resulted in:
- No change in IQ (high average) but impaired executive functions.
- Impaired planning of daily activities, relying on instructions.
- Needed prompting to perform daily tasks, such as changing clothes and showering.
- Unaware of his problems, showing no insight.
- Became unsociable, showing little emotion, and no initiative.
Prefrontal Cortex
- Hierarchy of processing: sensorimotor to abstract.
- Sub-regions:
- PMC and vLPFC: direct sensory-motor or response associations.
- dLPFC: manipulating, ordering information or task.
- Frontal polar: switching between tasks, high-level ordering.
- Orbital and medial frontal: evaluation of reward, novelty.
- SMA: sequencing, representing the legs, core, and genitalia.
- ACC: error processing, inhibition, linking between sensory and motor.
- Broca: part of planning.
Executive Functions and Goal-Directed Behavior
- Initiating actions.
- Selecting and maintaining a goal.
- Sequencing and planning.
- Set shifting and modifying goals or strategies.
- Monitoring and evaluation.
- Inhibition.
Initiating Action
- People with frontal lesions have trouble initiating actions.
- Left hemisphere damage: reduced speech.
Test your knowledge of executive functions with this quiz! Explore the key capacities involved in human cognition and the role of the frontal and parietal lobes in executive function. Challenge yourself to understand the selection, planning, sequencing, organization, flexible execution, and evaluation of behavior that are integral to executive function.
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