Executive functions change during the lifespan and can both be improved or adversely affected by various events that affect an individual. For example, resource-rich environments, stress-response systems are understood to shape brain development in ways conducive to executive function and high levels of self-control. Conversely, in lower-resource unpredictable environments, stress-response systems are understood to shape the brain in ways that promote highly reactive behavior and poor executive function ability leading to school failure and early school leaving. Knowing well the impact of stress and an unfavorable environment on the development of executive functions can lead to the construction of intervention programs that can guide these children from disadvantage towards resilience.
TopExecutive Function Development: A Rapid Overview
Historically, the construct of the EF is linked to the notion of “frontal metaphor.” EF has traditionally been associated with the prefrontal cortex, observing specific disorders in adult patients with brain damage localized to the frontal lobes (Luria 1973). Until a few decades ago, it was considered that the EF, and the substrate anatomo-functional correlated, were functionally immature until late adolescence. Considerable evidence now shows that the development of EF occurs much earlier than previously thought. Furthermore, in studies by neuroimaging, the neuronal basis of EF appears more complex as the prefrontal cortex is part of a neuronal network with connections distributed in many regions of the brain (Diamond et al., 2004).
Executive functions begin to develop very early in everyone's life, and each component of this set of processes follows its development trajectory (Ferguson, Brunsdon & Bradford 2021). For instance, cognitive flexibility seems to emerge between the ages of 3 and 4, becoming more complex between the ages of 7 and 9, and reaching adult-like levels by age ~ 12,15–17. In contrast, Zelazo et al. (2015) found that cognitive flexibility abilities continue to grow between the ages of 20 and 29, suggesting prolonged development of these abilities into young adulthood.
Working memory, inhibition, and planning have continued to develop throughout childhood and adolescence. In some circumstances (e.g., task-dependent), they have also been shown to continue to grow into young adulthood (e.g.,Bedard et al., 2002; Gathercole and Pickering 2004).
The protracted development of EFs across childhood and adolescence is associated with neurological changes, particularly the prefrontal cortex development (e.g.,Luna, Padmanabhan & O’Hearn,2010; Paus, 2005; Gogtay et al., 2004)
As executive functions are a multi-component construct, their development does not follow a linear trajectory (Cortés Pascual et al., 2019): different studies (Huizinga and van der Molen, 2007) showed that inhibition is the best predictor of academic performance up to the age of 7. After that age, the importance of working memory begins to prevail. Finally, after 11 years of age, cognitive flexibility is the best predictor of academic success (Jarvis and Gathercole, 2003).
A study examining children with a wide age range (5-17 years) shows that the magnitude of the relationship between EF and school performance varies according to age, with a strong relationship between EF and achievement at age 6 and age 8–9 (Best, Miller and Naglieri, 2011).
Inhibitory control (IC), an essential component of executive functions, develops strongly during the preschool years (Carlson, 2005; Garon, Bryson, & Smith, 2008). It is possible to define inhibitory control as the ability to suppress dominant, impulsive thoughts and behaviors in favor of subdominant ones (Rothbart & Posner, 1985). The most used descriptions of EF also involve working memory (the ability to hold information in mind while updating temporarily or processing) and cognitive flexibility (Diamond, 2006; Jones, Bailey, Barnes, & Partee, 2016). However, experimental evidence showed that these three aspects of EF are dissociable in early childhood (Miyake et al., 2000).
Inhibitory control allows individuals to adjust and adapt their behaviors and obey the established social norms. Therefore, it has an essential role in forming interpersonal relations and learning. Furthermore, it is significantly related to adaptive behavior in infancy and could predict its development (Gligorovic & Buha Ðurovic, 2012; Kim et al., 2013; Pallini & Laghi 2012).
In this chapter we aim to provide an overview of the actual state of the literature in this field.