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

Just as a garden needs balanced attention to all its elements to thrive, your child's executive function skills need comprehensive support to develop properly. —Charell G. Coleman, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025

The differences were seen in the frontoparietal region, an area associated with episodic memory, attention, and executive functions such as switching tasks. —New Atlas, 20 Feb. 2025

Social isolation can lead to depression, poor sleep, lower executive function, poor cardiovascular function, and blunted immunity. —Allie Volpe, Vox, 15 Jan. 2025

But for executive function and quality of life, none of the treatments performed differently than a placebo. —Kristen Rogers, CNN, 17 Dec. 2024

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