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OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aims to thoroughly examine the current understanding of the effect of maternal depression exposure on the executive functions of offspring. METHODS: Following the PRISMA statement, a comprehensive search for peer-reviewed cohort studies was performed on Pubmed, ScienceDirect, LILACS, PsychINFO, and SciELO. Study quality was assessed using the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-sectional studies. The evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation. RESULTS: This review analyzed 33 cohort studies from different countries with a total of 38,981 participants. Twenty-four studies confirmed the hypothesis of the harmful effect of maternal depressive symptoms on the performance of children's executive functions. However, a high heterogeneity among studies was found, and meta-analysis was not feasible. Fetal programming, genetics, and parental practices have been identified as potential mechanisms that can affect the executive functions of children born to mothers who have experienced depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a negative association between maternal depressive symptoms and offspring executive functioning. Further studies on the effects of chronicity/severity of maternal symptoms and changes in executive functions in different sensitive periods are needed.

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A decrease in vigilance over time is often observed when performing prolonged tasks, a phenomenon known as "vigilance decrement." The present study aimed at testing some of the critical predictions of the resource-control theory about the vigilance decrement. Specifically, the theory predicts that the vigilance decrement is mainly due to a drop in executive control, which fails to keep attentional resources on the external task, thus devoting a larger number of resources to mind-wandering across time-on-task. Datasets gathered from a large sample size (N = 617) who completed the Attentional Networks Test for Interactions and Vigilance-executive and arousal components in Luna, Roca, Martín-Arévalo, and Lupiáñez (2021b, Behavior Research Methods, 53[3], 1124-1147) were reanalyzed to test whether executive control decreases across time in a vigilance task and whether the vigilance decrement comes along with the decrement in executive control. Vigilance was examined as two dissociated components: executive vigilance, as the ability to detect infrequent critical signals, and arousal vigilance, as the maintenance of a fast reaction to stimuli. The executive control decrement was evidenced by a linear increase in the interference effect for mean reaction time, errors, and the inverse efficiency score. Critically, interindividual differences showed that the decrease in the executive-but not in the arousal-component of vigilance was modulated by the change in executive control across time-on-task, thus supporting the predictions of the resource-control theory. Nevertheless, given the small effect sizes observed in our large sample size, the present outcomes suggest further consideration of the role of executive control in resource-control theory.

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Relating brain dynamics acting on time scales that differ by at least an order of magnitude is a fundamental issue in brain research. The same is true for the observation of stable dynamical structures in otherwise highly non-stationary signals. The present study addresses both problems by the analysis of simultaneous resting state EEG-fMRI recordings of 53 patients with epilepsy. Confirming previous findings, we observe a generic and temporally stable average correlation pattern in EEG recordings. We design a predictor for the General Linear Model describing fluctuations around the stationary EEG correlation pattern and detect resting state networks in fMRI data. The acquired statistical maps are contrasted to several surrogate tests and compared with maps derived by spatial Independent Component Analysis of the fMRI data. By means of the proposed EEG-predictor we observe core nodes of known fMRI resting state networks with high specificity in the default mode, the executive control and the salience network. Our results suggest that both, the stationary EEG pattern as well as resting state fMRI networks are different expressions of the same brain activity. This activity is interpreted as the dynamics on (or close to) a stable attractor in phase space that is necessary to maintain the brain in an efficient operational mode. We discuss that this interpretation is congruent with the theoretical framework of complex systems as well as with the brain's energy balance.

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Introduction: Early-life educational experiences are associated with cognitive performance in aging. Early literacy seems to improve executive control mechanisms, however, it is not clear whether early education would still be an advantage in countries like Peru, where access to and quality of education is highly variable. Aim: Our objective was to analyze the association of literacy level with executive control factors. Method: We evaluated 93 healthy older adults with a clinical protocol that included the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Geriatric Depression Scale and Global Dementia Staging. We also used a neuropsychological executive function battery which included the Trail-Making Test parts A and B, the Stroop Test, phonological and semantic verbal fluency tasks, Forward and Backward Digits, Numbers and Letters of the Wechsler Scale, and the Go/No-Go task. We used a principal component analysis for the dimensional reduction of the variables. To measure the level of literacy we used the word accentuation test (WAT). Results: We observed statistically significant correlations between the principal components (PCs) of working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control with the WAT scores. Furthermore, we observed that processing speed and WAT predict the scores on PCs factors better than years of education and age. Conclusions: Literacy level correlates more closely with better cognitive performance than years of education and thus, might improve executive control factors that could compensate and protect against brain changes in cognitive decline and dementia.

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Resumen Nos propusimos comparar el rendimiento en tareas de función ejecutiva entre adolescentes y adultos mayores bilingües y monolingües. Utilizamos un diseño comparativo transversal. Evaluamos a 48 personas monolingües (24 adolescentes y 24 adultos mayores) y 56 bilingües (31 adolescentes y 25 adultos mayores) con una amplia batería neuropsicológica que comprendían tareas de flexibilidad cognitiva (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test), control inhibitorio (test de Stroop), memoria de trabajo (subescalas de Retención de dígitos, Secuencia de números y letras: test Wechsler de inteligencia) y acceso a la memoria a largo plazo (fluidez semántica y fonológica). Nuestros resultados indican que los adolescentes y adultos mayores monolingües rinden mejor en las pruebas de control ejecutivo que sus pares bilingües, siendo estas diferencias menores en los adultos mayores y no parecen asociarse a la edad y a la frecuencia de uso de L1 (castellano) y L2 (quechua). Estos resultados muestran que durante la adolescencia hay una desventaja a nivel ejecutivo en las personas bilingües, la cual parece disminuir en la adultez. Se discuten los resultados a la luz del peso de los factores socioculturales y a la posibilidad de entender al bilingüismo como un mecanismo ligado a la reserva cognitiva.

Abstract Our purpose was to compare performance in executive function tasks between bilingual and monolingual adolescents and older adults. A cross-sectional design was used. We evaluated 48 monolinguals (24 adolescents and 24 older adults) and 56 bilinguals (31 adolescents and 25 older adults) with a wide neuropsychological battery that included tasks of cognitive flexibility (Wisconsin card sorting test), inhibitory control (Stroop test), working memory (direct and inverse digits) and access to long-term memory (semantic and phonological fluency). Our results indicate that monolingual adolescents and older adults perform better in executive control tests than their bilingual counterparts, and these differences are minor in bilingual older adults, these differences do not seem to be associated with age and the frequency of use of L1 (Spanish) and L2 (Quechua). These results seem to show that during adolescence there is a cognitive disadvantage in executive function, which is reduced when people get older. The results are discussed considering sociocultural factors and the possibility of understanding bilingualism as a mechanism linked to cognitive reserve.

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Attention is a pivotal cognitive function and efforts to understand its properties and operations are fundamental. Building upon the best known taxonomy of attention put forward by Posner and colleagues, the Attention Network Test (ANT) was designed to efficiently provide scores that reflect the efficacy of alerting, orienting and executive control. The ANT has not only been very widely adopted by scholars around the world, it has inspired a wide range of variants, the ANTs, - each with its own purpose. This review will describe the origin of the ANT in the taxonomic contributions of Posner and the evolution of the ANTs with some discussion of the nature and rationale for each major variant described here. We briefly allude to minor modifications of the ANT and present some suggestions related to data reporting and data analysis. We end with some projections about the future use of the original ANT and its notable variants.

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Abstract The objective of this study was to compare the Executive Functions performance (EFs: inhibitory control, auditory and visuospatial working memory, cognitive flexibility and verbal fluency) between children with ADHD, reading difficulties (RD), comorbidity ADHD/RD and without complaints of ADHD and RD (WRD). Participated 104 children, of both sexes, aged between eight and 11 years old. The results indicated worse performance of ADHD/RD group in the majority EFs. ADHD presented better performance than DL in semantic verbal fluency. The WRD obtained better scores than the ADHD / DL and DL in practically all the evaluated EFs, but did not differ of ADHD.

Resumo Objetivou-se comparar o desempenho em Funções Executivas (FEs: controle inibitório, memória de trabalho auditiva e visuoespacial, flexibilidade cognitiva e fluência verbal) de crianças com TDAH, com dificuldade de leitura (DL), com comorbidade entre TDAH e dificuldade de leitura (TDAH/DL) e sem queixas de TDAH e dificuldades de leitura (SDL). Participaram 104 crianças, de ambos os sexos, com idades entre 8 e 11 anos. Os resultados apontaram piores desempenhos do TDAH/DL na maioria das FEs avaliadas quando comparado aos demais grupos. O grupo de crianças TDAH apresentou melhor desempenho do que o DL em fluência verbal semântica. O SDL obteve melhores escores que o TDAH/DL e o DL em praticamente todas as FEs avaliadas, mas não se diferenciou do TDAH.

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The significant public health burden associated with late-life depression (LLD) is magnified by the high rates of recurrence. In this manuscript, we review what is known about recurrence risk factors, conceptualize recurrence within a model of homeostatic disequilibrium, and discuss the potential significance and challenges of new research into LLD recurrence. The proposed model is anchored in the allostatic load theory of stress. We review the allostatic response characterized by neural changes in network function and connectivity and physiologic changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, autonomic nervous system, immune system, and circadian rhythm. We discuss the role of neural networks' instability following treatment response as a source of downstream disequilibrium, triggering and/or amplifying abnormal stress response, cognitive dysfunction and behavioral changes, ultimately precipitating a full-blown recurrent episode of depression. We propose strategies to identify and capture early change points that signal recurrence risk through mobile technology to collect ecologically measured symptoms, accompanied by automated algorithms that monitor for state shifts (persistent worsening) and variance shifts (increased variability) relative to a patient's baseline. Identifying such change points in relevant sensor data could potentially provide an automated tool that could alert clinicians to at-risk individuals or relevant symptom changes even in a large practice.

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BACKGROUND: Inhibitory control, a key modulatory component of cognition guiding strategy and behaviour, can be affected by diverse contingencies. We explore here the effect of expectation of reward over behavioural adjustment in a Stop Signal Task modulated by reward. We hypothesize that cognitive control is modulated by different expectation of the reward. METHODS: Participants were allocated to two groups differing in their degree of knowledge in what to expect from rewards. Expected Specific Reward participants (N = 21) were informed of the different monetary feedbacks they would receive after each successful inhibition. Unexpected Reward participants (N = 24) were only told that they would receive monetary reward after correct inhibitory trials, but not the amounts or differences. RESULTS: Our results confirmed previous observations demonstrating a "kick-start effect" where a high reward feedback at the beginning of the task increases response inhibition. The Expected Specific Reward condition seems also to improve inhibitory control -as measured by the stop signal reaction time (SSRT)-, compared to the Unexpected Reward group. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of reward magnitudes seems to play a role in cognitive control irrespective of feedback magnitude. The manipulation of reward expectation appears to trigger different strategies for cognitive control, inducing a bottom-up effect of external cues, or a top-down effect given by the anticipation of incoming rewards. This is an early exploration to unearth possible higher order modulators - expectation and motivation- of cognitive control. This approach aims to gain insight into diverse psychopathological conditions related to impulsivity and altered reward systems such as Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), personality disorders, substance abuse, pathological gambling and cognitive aspects of Parkinson Disease.

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BACKGROUND: Higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and greater amounts of physical activity have been associated with lower intraindividual variability (IIV) in executive function in children and older adults. In the present study, we examined whether CRF, measured as maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), and daily volume of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) were associated with IIV of reaction time during performance of the incongruent condition of the Stroop task in younger adults. Further, we examined whether the thickness of the cingulate cortex was associated with regulating variability in reaction time performance in the context of CRF or physical activity. METHODS: CRF (measured as VO2max), accelerometry-measured MVPA, Stroop performance, and thickness of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) derived from magnetic resonance imaging data were collected in 48 younger adults (age = 24.58 ± 4.95 years, mean ± SD). Multiple regression was used to test associations between IIV during the Stroop task and CRF, MVPA, and rACC thickness. Mediation was tested using maximum likelihood estimation with bootstrapping. RESULTS: Consistent with our predictions, higher VO2max was associated with greater rACC thickness for the right hemisphere and greater daily amounts of MVPA were associated with greater rACC thickness for both the left and right hemispheres. Greater thickness of the right rACC was associated with lower IIV for the incongruent condition of the Stroop task. CRF and MVPA were not directly associated with IIV. However, we did find that IIV and both CRF and MVPA were indirectly associated via the thickness of the right rACC. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that higher CRF and greater daily volume of MVPA may be associated with lower IIV during the Stroop task via structural integrity of the rACC. Randomized controlled trials of MVPA would provide crucial information about the causal relations between these variables.

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OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations of physical fitness and physical activity with executive function in children with overweight and obesity. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study involving 100 children with overweight and obesity (10.1 ± 1.1 years old; 58.0% boys). We assessed physical fitness components (ie, muscular strength, speed-agility, and cardiorespiratory fitness) using the ALPHA battery, and physical activity and sedentary time by accelerometry. Cognitive flexibility was measured by the Design Fluency Test and Trail Making Test, inhibition by the Stroop test, and planning ability by the Zoo Map Test. RESULTS: Handgrip strength was positively associated with planning ability (P = .025). Speed-agility was positively related to cognitive flexibility and inhibition (P < .05). Cardiorespiratory fitness and an overall fitness Z-score were positively associated with indicators of cognitive flexibility (P < .05). No associations were found for physical activity and sedentary time with executive function (P ≥ .05). CONCLUSIONS: Muscular strength, speed agility, and cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with executive function in children with overweight and obesity. Cognitive flexibility seems to be more robustly associated with all fitness components, whereas planning ability and inhibition might depend on the component analyzed. The positive associations found in the present study in children with overweight and obesity call for more exercise-based randomized controlled trials in this population.

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OBJECTIVE: To analyze the lifetime trajectories in genetic generalized epilepsies (GGEs) and investigate the impact of symptoms of anxiety and depression on resting state functional connectivity (FC). METHODS: Seventy-four GGE patients were classified according to the pharmacological response as seizure-free (12 patients), pharmacoresistant (PhR; 14 patients), and fluctuating (FL; 48 patients). Fifty-four subjects completed both the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and 38 also underwent 3-T resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging. These 38 patients were subdivided into a positive group (13 patients with concurrent symptoms of depression and anxiety) and a negative group (21 asymptomatic patients and four with mild anxiety or depression symptoms). For FC analysis of resting state networks, we matched 38 healthy asymptomatic volunteers and used the UF2C toolbox running on MATLAB2017/SPM12. RESULTS: The PhR group presented shorter duration of epilepsy (P = 0.016) and follow-up (P < 0.001) compared to the FL group. The PhR group showed higher levels (median = 20) on the BAI and BDI. Myoclonic seizures were the most difficult to control, as 50% of subjects persisted with them at last appointment, compared to generalized tonic-clonic seizures and absence seizures (<40%). Patients with concurrent anxiety and depression symptoms were 7.7 times more likely to exhibit pharmacoresistant seizures, although an increase of 1 year of epilepsy duration was associated with a decrease in the odds of presenting pharmacoresistance by a factor of 0.9. Overall, FC was altered between default mode network (DMN) and visuospatial/dorsal attention. However, only the positive group displayed abnormal FC between DMN and left executive control network, and between salience and visuospatial/dorsal attention. SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings may help clinicians to have a better understanding of GGE clinical course and increase attention to the potential relationship of psychopathologies and brain connectivity.

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Stroop-like and stop-signal tasks are commonly used to evaluate "inhibition", a multifaceted concept fundamental to better understanding of executive functions. Both tasks demand inhibitory processes for their execution; the first requires inhibition of an irrelevant attribute, while the second involves the inhibition of a prepotent motor response. Impulsivity and decision-making represent two other factors that could be associated to executive control and to inhibitory dyscontrol. In this study we developed a behavioral protocol combining the Stroop-matching (a variation of the classic Stroop task) and the stop-signal tasks to investigate possible interactions between the inhibitory mechanisms involved in both tasks. Moreover, we searched for associations between behavioral performance of healthy participants, and self-reported impulsivity and decision-making processes assessed by the BIS-11 scale and IGT, respectively. Our results showed that the primary-task reaction time in the Stroop-matching task influenced the ability to inhibit motor responses in the stop-signal task. Moreover, impulsiveness scores (but not decision-making) were associated to behavioral performance. Importantly, motor and attentional impulsiveness correlated differently to performance depending on the existence of stop-signal trials in the task. Our protocol revealed promising findings concerning the interaction between different inhibitory processes and their association with impulsivity levels.

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El Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad (TDAH) está relacionado con dificultades a nivel de control ejecutivo. Nuevas formas de explorar este constructo contribuyen a la precisión diagnóstica, disminuir la prevalencia y la construcción de un consenso objetivo sobre los criterios del TDAH. El objetivo fue establecer las diferencias en el control ejecutivo de un grupo de niños con TDAH (N=22), con respecto al grupo control (N=15), de ambos géneros y de entre 7 y 12 años de edad, escolarizados de la ciudad de Medellín, Colombia. Se implementaron tres parámetros oculares: fijaciones, antisacadas y prosacadas, los cuales fueron registrados continuamente en un equipo de rastreo visual (Tobii T120). Los resultados indicaron un menor tiempo para el grupo con TDAH en fijaciones oculares (p<,001) que miden control de la interferencia. Un mayor número de errores de dirección en el parámetro antisacadas relacionados con el control inhibitorio. Respecto a las prosacadas, que miden la capacidad para iniciar una respuesta motora, no se encontraron diferencias significativas. Se concluyó que la población con TDAH presenta alteración en el control ejecutivo al utilizar el paradigma de rastreo ocular. Se propusieron, además, los movimientos oculares como posible marcador biológico para detectar una población en riesgo de padecer dicho trastorno.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is related to difficulties at the level of the executive control. New ways of exploring this construct contribute to diagnostic accuracy, decrease the prevalence and build an objective consensus on ADHD criteria. The aim of the study was to establish the differences in the executive control of a group of children with ADHD (N=22), with respect to the control group (N=15), of both genders and between 7 and 12 years old, attending school in the city of Medellin, Colombia. Three ocular parameters were implemented: fixings, antisaccade, and prosaccades, which were recorded continuously in a visual tracking equipment (Tobii T120). The results indicated a shorter time for the group with ADHD in ocular fixations (p<0.001) that measure interference control. A greater number of address errors in the antisaccade parameter related to inhibitory control. Regarding the prosaccades, which measure the capacity to initiate a motor response, no significant differences were found. It was concluded that the population with ADHD presents alteration in the executive control when using the eye tracking paradigm. Eye movements were also proposed as a possible biological marker to detect a population at risk of suffering from this disorder.

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This study aimed to: (1) investigate the influence of a 2-weeks sprint interval training (SIT) program on aerobic capacity, cardiac autonomic control, and components of attention in young healthy university students; and (2) to ascertain whether training fidelity would influence these adaptations. One hundred and nine participants were divided into an experimental (EG) and control (CG) groups. The EG performed a SIT program that consisted of 6 sessions of 4 × 30 s "all-out" efforts on a cycle ergometer, interspersed with active rests of 4 min. The criterion for fidelity was achieving >90% of estimated maximum heart rate (HR) during sprint bouts. After analyses, the EG was divided into HIGH (n = 26) and LOW (n = 46) fidelity groups. Components of attention were assessed using the Attention Network Test (ANT). Aerobic capacity (VO2max) was estimated while the sum of skinfolds was determined. Autonomic control of HR was assessed by means of HR variability (HRV) and HR complexity at rest and during ANT. Both HIGH and LOW significantly increased aerobic capacity, vagal modulation before and during ANT, and executive control, and decreased body fatness after SIT (p < 0.05). However, only participants from HIGH showed an increase in HR complexity and accuracy in ANT when compared to LOW (p < 0.05). Two weeks of SIT improved executive control, body fatness, aerobic fitness, and autonomic control in university students with better results reported in those individuals who exhibited high fidelity.

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Resumen Las diferencias entre sexos suelen ser un aspecto crucial a ser tenido en cuenta en ciertos desarrollos en neurociencias cognitivas. En el estudio de las redes neuronales de la atención (alerta fásica, vigilancia, orientación, control atencional), aún no se observa un consenso establecido y esclarecedor sobre las diferencias existentes entre mujeres y hombres. Este trabajo presenta una revisión de las diferencias entre sexos encontradas en las investigaciones de las redes atencionales. Se pretende aportar una discusión que sirva como guía para considerar el sexo como variable de interés en futuros estudios en ciencias cognitivas.

Abstract Sex differences are often a crucial topic to be taken into account in certain developments in cognitive neuroscience. In the study of attention neural networks (phasic alerting, vigilance, orienting, executive control), there is not yet a consensus established and enlightening about the differences between men and women. This paper presents a review of sex differences found in investigations of attentional networks. We plan to bring a discussion to serve as a guide to regard sex as a variable of interest in future studies in cognitive neuroscience.

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Altered functional connectivity has been associated with acute and chronic nicotine use. Connectivity alterations, specifically in the right and left executive control networks (RECN/LECN) and the default mode network (DMN), may contribute to the addiction cycle. The objective of this study was to determine if executive control network (ECN) and DMN connectivity is different between non-smokers and smokers and whether reductions in connectivity are related to chronic cigarette use. The RECN, LECN, and DMN were identified in resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging data in 650 subjects. Analyses tested for group differences in network connectivity strength, controlling for age and alcohol use. There was a significant group effect on LECN and DMN connectivity strength with smokers (n = 452) having lower network strengths than non-smokers (n = 198). Smokers had lower connectivity than non-smokers associated with key network hubs: the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and parietal nodes within ECNs. Further, ECN connectivity strength was negatively associated with pack years of cigarette use. Our data suggest that chronic nicotine use negatively impacts functional connectivity within control networks that may contribute to the difficulty smokers have in quitting.

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O objetivo deste estudo foi sistematizar evidências sobre a influência do nível socioeconômico (NSE) no desempenho em tarefas de funções executivas (FE). A busca de artigos foi realizada nas bases ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, PsycINFO, Pubmed, Science Direct, EBSCO e BVS-PSI, entre 2000 e 2011. Foram selecionados 19 artigos, com base em critérios pré-estabelecidos. As características metodológicas dos estudos foram analisadas quanto à presença de amostra representativa, critérios de inclusão, controle de confundidores e tamanho de efeito. NSE influenciou o desempenho em FE em 17 estudos, sendo que a magnitude das diferenças entre os grupos de NSE foi geralmente moderada e fraca, de acordo com a função executiva e a idade. Discute-se a relação entre variáveis socioeconômicas e funções executivas na infância/adolescência, assim como a relevância de estudos futuros com rigor metodológico(AU)

This study aimed to systematize evidences about the socioeconomic status (SES) in the development of executive functions (EF) tasks. The search for articles, from 2000 to 2011, was carried out in the following databases: ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, PsycINFO, Pubmed, Science Direct, EBSCOand BVS-PSI. Nineteen articles were selected based on previously established criteria. Methodological characteristics were analyzed concerning the presence of a representative sample, inclusion criteria, control of confounding factors and size effect. SES influenced the development of EF in 17 studies, and the magnitude of differences among groups related to SES generally varied between moderated and weak according to the executive function and age. The relationship between socioeconomic variables and executive functions in childhood/adolescence is discussed, as well as the relevance of future studies with methodological rigor(AU)

El objetivo de este estudio fue sistematizar las evidencias sobre la influencia del nivel socioeconómico (NSE) en el desempeño de tareas de funciones ejecutivas (FE). La búsqueda de artículos se llevó a cabo en las bases ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, PsycINFO, Pubmed, Science Direct, EBSCO y BVS-PSI entre el 2000 y el 2011. Se seleccionaron 19 artículos con base en criterios preestablecidos. Se analizaron las características metodológicas de los estudios para detectar la presencia de la muestra representativa, criterios de inclusión, control de factores de confusión y tamaño del efecto. NSE influenció el desempeño en FE en 17 estudios, siendo que la magnitud de las diferencias entre los grupos de acuerdo con NSE varió entre moderada y débil de acuerdo con la función ejecutiva y la edad. Se discute la relación entre las variables socioeconómicas y funciones ejecutivas en la infancia/adolescencia, así como la relevancia de futuros estudios con rigor metodológico(AU)

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O objetivo deste estudo foi sistematizar evidências sobre a influência do nível socioeconômico (NSE) no desempenho em tarefas de funções executivas (FE). A busca de artigos foi realizada nas bases ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, PsycINFO, Pubmed, Science Direct, EBSCO e BVS-PSI, entre 2000 e 2011. Foram selecionados 19 artigos, com base em critérios pré-estabelecidos. As características metodológicas dos estudos foram analisadas quanto à presença de amostra representativa, critérios de inclusão, controle de confundidores e tamanho de efeito. NSE influenciou o desempenho em FE em 17 estudos, sendo que a magnitude das diferenças entre os grupos de NSE foi geralmente moderada e fraca, de acordo com a função executiva e a idade. Discute-se a relação entre variáveis socioeconômicas e funções executivas na infância/adolescência, assim como a relevância de estudos futuros com rigor metodológico

This study aimed to systematize evidences about the socioeconomic status (SES) in the development of executive functions (EF) tasks. The search for articles, from 2000 to 2011, was carried out in the following databases: ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, PsycINFO, Pubmed, Science Direct, EBSCOand BVS-PSI. Nineteen articles were selected based on previously established criteria. Methodological characteristics were analyzed concerning the presence of a representative sample, inclusion criteria, control of confounding factors and size effect. SES influenced the development of EF in 17 studies, and the magnitude of differences among groups related to SES generally varied between moderated and weak according to the executive function and age. The relationship between socioeconomic variables and executive functions in childhood/adolescence is discussed, as well as the relevance of future studies with methodological rigor

El objetivo de este estudio fue sistematizar las evidencias sobre la influencia del nivel socioeconómico (NSE) en el desempeño de tareas de funciones ejecutivas (FE). La búsqueda de artículos se llevó a cabo en las bases ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, PsycINFO, Pubmed, Science Direct, EBSCO y BVS-PSI entre el 2000 y el 2011. Se seleccionaron 19 artículos con base en criterios preestablecidos. Se analizaron las características metodológicas de los estudios para detectar la presencia de la muestra representativa, criterios de inclusión, control de factores de confusión y tamaño del efecto. NSE influenció el desempeño en FE en 17 estudios, siendo que la magnitud de las diferencias entre los grupos de acuerdo con NSE varió entre moderada y débil de acuerdo con la función ejecutiva y la edad. Se discute la relación entre las variables socioeconómicas y funciones ejecutivas en la infancia/adolescencia, así como la relevancia de futuros estudios con rigor metodológico

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En el presente trabajo se aplicaron las Pruebas de Fluidez Verbal (PFV), correspondientes al Explorador Neuropsicológico en Fluidez Verbal (ENFV), a una población de niños argentinos. El objetivo principal fue conocer su estructura factorial en niños y divulgar valores normativos. Se obtuvieron dos factores principales: uno ejecutivo y el otro semántico. Esto avala gran parte de la literatura especializada, que discute sobre el rol de las capacidades atencionales y otras habilidades en PFV. Respecto del rol de la edad, se encontró una elevada incidencia en todas las pruebas, excepto la categorial de supermercado. La influencia fue mayor para las pruebas fonológicas y de verbos, lo que fue relacionado con su mayor compromiso frontal y la tardía maduración de estas estructuras. Se sugiere, por último, la continuidad de estos trabajos desde una perspectiva interactiva entre nodos ejecutivos y semánticos. Esto conlleva la utilización de equipos de neuroimágenes para obtener imágenes por Tensor de Difusiones, cuyo dato principal es la conectividad entre regiones cerebrales distantes.

In this work we applied Verbal Fluency Tasks (VFT) belonging to the Verbal Fluency Neuropsychological Explorer (VFNE) to a popu-lation of Argentinean childrens. The main objective was to determine the factor structure in children and disseminate normative values. We obtained two main factors: one executive and one semantic. This supports much of the literature, which discusses the role of attentional capacities and other skills in VFT. On the role of Age, there was a high incidence in all tests except the categorical supermarket. The influence was greater for the phonological tests and verbs, which was associated with greater commitment and delayed frontal maturation of these structures. It suggests, finally, the continuity of this work from an interactive perspective be-tween executive and semantic nodes. This involves the use of neuroimaging equipment to obtain diffusion tensor images, which shows connectivity data between distant brain regions.

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