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

Practicing mise en place requires planning, memory recall, and executive function—skills that are crucial for cognitive longevity. —Rai Mincey, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2025

However, the data also suggests that even these drugs didn't help people with ADHD better manage other challenges such as poor executive function – even though this is closely related to emotional dysregulation. —New Atlas, 19 Dec. 2024

Wei, who was not involved in the new study, did similar research and found a decade of living with heart risk was linked to poor performance on cognitive tests measuring executive function, processing speed and immediate and delayed memory in men and women over 60. —Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 26 Nov. 2024

Practicing mindful breathing meditation, although research on its effectiveness in improving executive functions is mixed. —Dominique Fluker, Essence, 10 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1972, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for executive function

• adjunction
• compunction
• conjunction
• disjunction
• dysfunction
• injunction
• inunction
• malfunction
• eigenfunction
• multifunction
• heterojunction
• junction