The factor structure of executive function in childhood and adolescence

Intelligence ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 90 ◽  
pp. 101600
Author(s):  
Felien Laureys ◽  
Silke De Waelle ◽  
Maria T. Barendse ◽  
Matthieu Lenoir ◽  
Frederik J.A. Deconinck
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence

Neurobiological Mechanisms of Psychopathology and Treatment Action

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore P. Beauchaine ◽  
Aimee R. Zisner ◽  
Elizabeth P. Hayden
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Treatment Response ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Environmental Influence ◽  
Externalizing Disorders ◽  
Psychosocial Treatment ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Trait Impulsivity ◽  
Heterotypic Continuity

In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that common forms of psychopathology derive from complex interactions among neurobiological vulnerabilities and environmental adversities. These interactions can alter neurobehavioral development to yield progressively intractable forms of psychopathology across childhood and adolescence. This chapter focuses on neurobiological mechanisms of trait impulsivity, trait anxiety, stress reactivity, and emotion regulation/executive function. How these traits confer vulnerability to externalizing disorders, internalizing disorders, heterotypic comorbidity, and heterotypic continuity is described. Next, neurobiological mechanisms of treatment response are considered. Trait impulsivity and trait anxiety are highly heritable and derive initially from subcortical structures that mature early in life. In contrast, emotion regulation and executive function, which modulate trait impulsivity and trait anxiety, are more sensitive to environmental influence and derive from cortical structures that mature into young adulthood. Neurobiological mechanisms of psychosocial treatment response are represented largely in the cortex and its neuromodulatory connections with the subcortex.

Nutrients for executive function development and related brain connectivity in school-aged children

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah E Costello ◽  
Eveline Geiser ◽  
Nora Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Brain Maturation ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Nutrition And Diet

Abstract Executive functions refer to a set of higher-order cognitive processes involved in the control and organization of information to serve goal-directed behaviors. Skills in executive functioning are developed throughout childhood and adolescence and have been shown to be predictive of academic achievement. The coordination of these complex processes is critically dependent on brain maturation and connectivity, including key neurodevelopmental processes like myelination and synaptogenesis. Among other factors, research highlights the influential effect of nutrition and diet on these neurodevelopmental processes, which may impact executive function performance in healthy and deficient populations. This review considers the research to date on the role of key nutrients that have been identified for executive function development and their underlying neurophysiological processes in school-aged children.

scholarly journals Latent Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery in an Alzheimer’s Disease Research Sample

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Yue Ma ◽  
Cynthia M. Carlsson ◽  
Michelle L. Wahoske ◽  
Hanna M. Blazel ◽  
Richard J. Chappell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Measurement Invariance ◽  
Clinical Diagnosis ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Latent Factor ◽  
Race Ethnicity

Abstract Objective: This study investigated the latent factor structure of the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB) and its measurement invariance across clinical diagnosis and key demographic variables including sex, race/ethnicity, age, and education for a typical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research sample. Method: The NIHTB-CB iPad English version, consisting of 7 tests, was administered to 411 participants aged 45–94 with clinical diagnosis of cognitively unimpaired, dementia, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or impaired not MCI. The factor structure of the whole sample was first examined with exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and further refined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Two groups were classified for each variable (diagnosis or demographic factors). The confirmed factor model was next tested for each group with CFA. If the factor structure was the same between the groups, measurement invariance was then tested using a hierarchical series of nested two-group CFA models. Results: A two-factor model capturing fluid cognition (executive function, processing speed, and memory) versus crystalized cognition (language) fit well for the whole sample and each group except for those with age < 65. This model generally had measurement invariance across sex, race/ethnicity, and education, and partial invariance across diagnosis. For individuals with age < 65, the language factor remained intact while the fluid cognition was separated into two factors: (1) executive function/processing speed and (2) memory. Conclusions: The findings mostly supported the utility of the battery in AD research, yet revealed challenges in measuring memory for AD participants and longitudinal change in fluid cognition.

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