Tourette Syndrome Plus - Conditions - Executive Dysfunction

	Site Map	Conditions	Education
	Behavior	Miscellaneous	Home

Information Section: Conditions
Condition: Executive Dysfunction
Article: Overview of Executive Dysfunction¹
Source: Leslie E. Packer, PhD, 1999
This File Last Updated: December, 2004

Page 1 2 3 4

Article Table of Contents

PREFACE

One of the least studied and most often overlooked contributors to academic, behavioral, and social problems is the area of executive dysfunction. In this section, we will provide a brief overview and then consider some of the organizational deficits children and adults with executive dysfunction might encounter.

WHAT ARE THE EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS?

The foundations for learning are attention, memory, and executive function. While most parents would immediately have some sense of what "attention" and "memory" mean, they may never have heard of executive functions. And yet without these functions, so many aspects of our functioning would be impossible or significantly impaired.

Executive functions (EF) are central processes that are most intimately involved in giving organization and order to our actions and behavior. They have been compared to the "maestro" who conducts the orchestra. But what are these processes? The whole topic is very controversial, but there seems to be a consensus that executive functions involve (at the very least):

planning for the future
the ability to inhibit or delay responding
initiating behavior, and
shifting between activities flexibly

If we break down the skills or functions into subfunctions, we might say that executive functions tap into the following abilities or skills:

Goal
Plan
Sequence
Prioritize
Organize
Initiate
Inhibit
Pace
Shift
Self-monitor
Emotional control
Completing

We will consider these skills in more detail later in this article, but for now, it should also be noted that in considering executive functions, we will also be talking about "working memory," which is not purely an executive function but overlaps executive functions, attention, and memory. Also, although "emotional control" is included in this list, it is not a purely executive function.

HOW ARE EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS ASSESSED?

Because there is no uniform agreement on what the executive functions are, there has been no agreement on how to assess them. If we talk about particular subfunctions, however, it is possible to answer the question.

Executive functions are generally assessed via neuropsychological tests and assessments. For any one function or subfunction, there may be a variety of tasks or tests that tap into components.

If you suspect that you, your child, your spouse, or your student has executive dysfunction (EDF), the appropriate referral would be to a board-certified neuropsychologist. Neuropsychologists are psychologists who specialize in the relationship between brain and behavior.²

FOOTNOTES

1 The author is deeply indebted to Sheryl K. Pruitt, M.Ed., for her input and contributions to this section, but the author retains full responsibility for any errors.

2 To find out more about neuropsychological assessment and its use in assessing individuals wtih ADHD, see the neuropsychologycentral.com web site's resources and links.

Page 1 2 3 4

	Site Map	Conditions	Education
	Behavior	Miscellaneous	Home