Resumen: Las funciones ejecutivas se encuentran entre los procesos más complejos del humano; su desarrollo permite la conformación de diversas capacidades de control, y organización de la conducta y la cognición. En este artículo se presenta una extensa revisión de la literatura más relevante a nivel internacional sobre el tema. Se abarca el proceso de desarrollo desde la niñez hasta la juventud, analizando las características de desarrollo de las principales funciones ejecutivas. Se muestra que la hipótesis planteada por Victoria Anderson hace ya una década es correcta: las funciones ejecutivas se desarrollan de forma secuencial y curvilínea: un intenso progreso en la infancia, con una desaceleración a inicios de la adolescencia. También se analiza el efecto de otros factores adicionales a la edad como son el efecto de la escolaridad, los estilos parentales y el contexto cultural. Palabras clave: Desarrollo funciones ejecutivas; infancia; adolescencia.Title: Executive functions development, from childhood to youthhood. Abstract: The executive functions are among the most complex cognitive processes in the human; during development they support the conformation of several capacities for organization and control of behavior and cognition. In this article an extensive review on the most relevant scientific literature is presented, with a developmental range from childhood to youthhood. An analysis on the developmental characteristics of the main executive functions is offered. The review indicates that the hypothesis stated by Victoria Anderson a decade ago, is accurate: the executive functions develops in a sequential form, with a curvilinear behavior: an intense progression during childhood, with slowness by early adolescence. Effects of additional factors like school level, parenting, and cultural context are also analyzed. Key words: Executive functions development; childhood; adolescence. IntroducciónDe forma progresiva diversos teóricos e investigadores han coincidido en que las funciones ejecutivas (FE) se encuentran entre los componentes más importantes para que el desarrollo infantil y adolescente sea exitoso (Diamond & Lee, 2011); entre las FE más importantes se encuentran el autocontrol, la memoria de trabajo, la organización, la planeación, la solución de problemas, y la flexibilidad de pensamiento; capacidades primordiales para un adecuado aprendizaje académico desde la infancia temprana (Best, Miller & Naglien, 2001). Las investigaciones sistematizadas sobre el desarrollo de las FE se han incrementado progresivamente en los últimos 15 años, lo que ha producido un nú-mero significativo de resultados; con esta información se puede construir un panorama inicial-básico sobre el estado del arte de este tema.A pesar de que ya se cuenta en la literatura con decenas de artículos sobre esta temática, recientes trabajos de revisión y metanálisis advierten que aún no se ha conseguido construir un conocimiento básico sobre el desarrollo infancia-adolescencia, debido a que la mayoría de las investigaciones se han...
Word-list learning tasks are among the most important and frequently used tests for declarative memory evaluation. For example, the California Verbal Learning Test-Children's Version (CVLT-C) and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test provide important information about different cognitive-neuropsychological processes. However, the impact of test length (i.e., number of words) and semantic organization (i.e., type of words) on children's and adolescents' memory performance remains to be clarified, especially during this developmental stage. To explore whether a medium-length non-semantically organized test can produce the typical curvilinear performance that semantically organized tests produce, reflecting executive control, we studied and compared the cognitive performance of normal children and adolescents by utilizing mathematical modeling. The model is based on the first-order system transfer function and has been successfully applied to learning curves for the CVLT-C (15 words, semantically organized paradigm). Results indicate that learning nine semantically unrelated words produces typical curvilinear (executive function) performance in children and younger adolescents and that performance could be effectively analyzed with the mathematical model. This indicates that the exponential increase (curvilinear performance) of correctly learned words does not solely depend on semantic and/or length features. This type of test controls semantic and length effects and may represent complementary tools for executive function evaluation in clinical populations in which semantic and/or length processing are affected.
Background. From the first reports of the linguist Noam Chomsky it has become clear that the development of language has an important genetic component. Several reports in families have shown the relationship between language disorders and genetic polymorphisms. The FOXP2 gene has been a fundamental piece for the understanding of language development. This gene codes for a transcription factor containing a forkhead domain of DNA binding and participates in the regulation of the expression of a large number of genes involved in the embryonic development of fundamental neuronal structures needed for the development of speech and language. Objective. To present an updated view of the relationship between FOXP2 and language alterations in psychiatric pathology. Method. Narrative review of information reported in databases on the recent advances supporting genetic participation in language disorders of psychiatric illness. Results. Update of content related to FOXP2 and its participation in language alterations in psychiatric diseases. Discussion and conclusion. Advances in the genetic study of language disorders in psychiatric pathology open up new avenues of investigation that allow us to explore how language emerged and how it evolved, as well as to carry out comparative studies on the structure and functioning of genes to approach the understanding of this complex characteristic that makes us human.
Motor-action verbs (MAVs) production and comprehension are compromised in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Objectives: The aim of this study was to characterize the sequential production of three subtypes of MAVs in PD patients: whole body (e.g., run), specific body part (e.g., kick), and instrumental (e.g., saw). This study also aimed to identify the production characteristics for each of the two main phases in fluency performance: selection (initial abundant item production) and retrieval (more paced and scarce production). Methods: This study involved a group of 20 nondemented, on-medication PD patients, with an average age of 66.59 years (standard deviation = 4.13), and a comparison group (CG) of 20 normal elderly individuals, matched by years of education and controlled for cognitive performance and depression. Both groups performed a classical verb fluency task. Sequential word-by-word analyses were conducted. Results: Significant differences were found at the initial production of whole-body MAVs and the overall production of instrumental verbs (both measures were lower in the PD group). A repeated-measures analysis of variance confirmed the linear CG performance and the quadratic PD performance. Conclusions: PD patients present altered production of whole-body and instrumental MAVs. This proposal for the semantic sequential analysis of motor verbs deserves further investigation, as a new methodology for the evaluation of fluency performance in motor-related disease.
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