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

Those with this biotype also made errors in executive function tests but did do well on cognitive tasks. —Kristen Rogers, CNN, 20 June 2024

Specifically, research has pinpointed declines in the frontal lobe, which includes your prefrontal cortex, or the area that handles executive functions. —Erica Sloan, SELF, 17 June 2024

The boy's disabilities included sensory sensitivities, an executive function disorder and probable learning disabilities, according the lawsuit. —Tony Cook, The Indianapolis Star, 17 Apr. 2024

There was a statistically significant benefit from the multivitamin for change in episodic memory, but not in executive function/attention. —Rick Sobey, Hartford Courant, 21 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1972, in the meaning defined above