The central executive does not exist.
In this article I critically review the concept of the central executive. I argue that the experimental evidence for a central executive lacks rigor to the point where it is an unfalsifiable construct. I examine the neuropsychological and neuroradiological evidence and demonstrate that there is no localization evidence for a central executive. What emerges instead is a pattern of extensive heterogeneity with different executive tasks associated with different neural substrates. In sum it is argued that the idea of a central executive should be abandoned, and, from a neuropsychological perspective, tests that purport to measure executive function should do so in a qualitative way rather than assume that a range of tests load on a unitary dimension of performance.
Parkin
A J
AJ
Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, U.K. alp@biols.sussex.ac.uk
D000818:Animals; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D009484:Neuropsychology