Executive Functions: Planning, Flexibility, Inhibition
Executive functions are the "conductors" of the brain — they coordinate all other cognitive functions to achieve complex goals. They are the last to mature and the first to be affected in many pathologies.
The 5 Components of Executive Functions
Planning
Defining a goal, breaking it down into steps, ordering actions, anticipating obstacles. Essential for any complex task.
Cognitive Flexibility
Changing strategy when the first one doesn't work. Adapting to new information. Tolerating ambiguity.
Inhibition
Resisting impulses and distractions. Suppressing inappropriate automatic responses. Controlling emotions.
Working Memory
Maintaining and manipulating information "online" for a few seconds. Essential for following a conversation, understanding complex text.
Problem Solving
Identifying the problem, generating solutions, evaluating them, choosing and implementing the best one. Depends on the previous 4 components.
Metacognition
The ability to "think about one's thinking" — monitoring one's own functioning, evaluating performance, self-correcting.
The Prefrontal Cortex: A Brain Within the Brain
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the most anterior region of the brain — and the most recent in evolution. It is also the last to mature (around 25 years) and the most sensitive to disturbances: chronic stress, lack of sleep, psychoactive substances, and certain psychiatric pathologies affect it primarily. This is why executive functions are so frequently impacted in ADHD, depression, anxiety disorders, and dementias.
When EF Malfunctions
In ADHD: inhibition and working memory are the most deficient — leading to impulsivity, disorganization, and procrastination. In depression: flexibility and planning are reduced — generating cognitive rigidity and inability to initiate actions. In frontotemporal dementia: social inhibition collapses — leading to inappropriate behaviors. In advanced Alzheimer's: all EF are progressively lost.
🧠 Assessing and Training Executive Functions
• DYNSEO Executive Functions Test — free assessment
• Training "Supporting a Child with ADHD" — central executive dysfunction
• DYNSEO Planner, Visual Timer, and Organizational Tools
FAQ
What are executive functions?
High-level processes coordinating other cognitive functions: planning, inhibition, flexibility, working memory, problem solving. Managed by the prefrontal cortex.
Where are EF located in the brain?
Mainly in the prefrontal cortex — the last region to mature (25 years), the most sensitive to stress and pathologies.
What pathologies affect EF?
ADHD (inhibition, working memory), depression (planning, flexibility), frontotemporal dementia (social inhibition), frontal stroke, advanced Alzheimer's. Also impacted by chronic stress and lack of sleep.
Conclusion: EF, the Cornerstone of Adapted Behavior
Executive functions are what allow a human being not to be a slave to their impulses and habits — to project into the future, to plan, and to act according to their values rather than their reflexes. Understanding, assessing, and training them is a major cognitive investment at any age.
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