What are Executive Functions?

Executive Function is a term used to refer to a set of supervisory processes that are involved in a wide range of cognitive functions including planning, focussing attention, goal directed persistence, flexibility, organization, response inhibition and emotional self-regulation. Executive functions are critical life skills that predict success at school and in personal and professional life. Localised in the frontal lobe of the brain, deficits in executive functioning are often associated with conditions such as ADHD, Learning disabilities and even Depression.

Why train Executive Functions?

Executive functions are trained in a variety of ways – In clinical setting, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is primarily used. Games are primarily used to train only a subset (the more cognitive processes(?)) of the executive functions – including planning, task switching, selective attention and response inhibition. Some research has shown that this kind of training (through games) can have a wide variety of positive impacts including second language acquisition.