executive function

noun

psychology

: the group of complex mental processes and cognitive abilities (such as working memory, impulse inhibition, and reasoning) that control the skills (such as organizing tasks, remembering details, managing time, and solving problems) required for goal-directed behavior

The biggest impacts, she says, are in enhancing what's known as executive function—the ability to perform complex tasks that rely on planning or decision making.

—Janet Raloff

also : one of these complex mental processes

But a new study reports that soccer players actually have superior executive functions, the brain processes responsible for planning and abstract thinking.

—Sindya N. Bhanoo

executive functioning noun

Measures of attention, hyperactivity, and executive functioning (the ability to process feedback, interpret life's good and bad moments, and react in an appropriate way to events) were based on reports from parents and teachers …

—David Kirby

Examples of executive function in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Focus on helping your teen develop executive function skills like time management, organization, and goal setting. —Dr. Aviva Legatt, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024

To evaluate the day-to-day associations of movement with cognitive health and mental well-being, participants took daily tests to measure cognition across five domains, including memory (episodic and working memory), executive function, and processing speed. —New Atlas, 15 Dec. 2024

The first is the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain that’s involved in executive function and cognition. —Brenda Goodman, CNN, 1 Nov. 2024

But a growing consensus among researchers say that the condition is really a disorder of executive function, which describes skills like self-control, planning, and organizing. —Claire Bugos, Verywell Health, 21 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1972, in the meaning defined above