Balancing Automatic-Controlled Behaviors and Emotional-Salience States: A Dynamic Executive Functioning Hypothesis.
Recently, there has been growing interest in understanding how executive functions are conceptualized in psychopathology. Since several models have been proposed, the major issue lies within the definition of executive functioning itself. Theoretical discussions have emerged, narrowing the boundaries between "hot" and "cold" executive functions or between self-regulation and cognitive control. Nevertheless, the definition of executive functions is far from a consensual proposition and it has been suggested that these models might be outdated. Current efforts indicate that human behavior and cognition are by-products of many brain systems operating and interacting at different levels, and therefore, it is very simplistic to assume a dualistic perspective of information processing. Based upon an adaptive perspective, we discuss how executive functions could emerge from the ability to solve immediate problems and to generalize successful strategies, as well as from the ability to synthesize and to classify environmental information in order to predict context and future. We present an executive functioning perspective that emerges from the dynamic balance between automatic-controlled behaviors and an emotional-salience state. According to our perspective, the adaptive role of executive functioning is to automatize efficient solutions simultaneously with cognitive demand, enabling individuals to engage such processes with increasingly complex problems. Understanding executive functioning as a mediator of stress and cognitive engagement not only fosters discussions concerning individual differences, but also offers an important paradigm to understand executive functioning as a continuum process rather than a categorical and multicomponent structure.
Experimentelle und Klinische Pharmakopsychologie, Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik ZürichZürich, Switzerland; Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Graduate Program in Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto AlegreBrazil.
Bruno
B
Kluwe-Schiavon
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Graduate Program in Pediatrics and Child Health, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre Brazil.
Thiago W
TW
Viola
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Graduate Program in Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre Brazil.
Breno
B
Sanvicente-Vieira
Department of Mental Health, School of Medicine, Federal University of Minas GeraisBelo Horizonte, Brazil; LUMINA Neurosciences and Mental Health InstituteBelo Horizonte, Brazil.
Leandro F
LF
Malloy-Diniz
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Graduate Program in Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto AlegreBrazil; Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Graduate Program in Pediatrics and Child Health, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto AlegreBrazil.
Rodrigo
R
Grassi-Oliveira
automatic process; cognitive control; executive functions; neuropsychology; psychological; reasoning; self-regulation; stress