Article

Executive functions are a collection of cognitive abilities necessary for
behavioural control and regulation, and are important for school success.
Executive deficits are common across acquired and developmental disorders in
childhood and beyond.
This review aims to summarize how studies using
event-related potential (ERP) can provide insight into mechanisms underpinning
how executive functions develop in children from preschool to adolescence. We
specifically focus on ERP components that are considered to be well-established
markers of executive functioning, including the ability to resist distraction
(inhibition, N200), hold scenes in mind (visuospatial working memory,
contralateral delay activity), attend to specific stimuli (information
processing, P300), follow rules (response monitoring, error-related negativity
[ERN], and error-related positivity [Pe]), and adjust to feedback (outcome
monitoring, feedback-related negativity). All of these components show
developmental changes from preschool to adolescence, in line with behavioural and
neuroimaging findings.
These ERP markers also show altered developmental
trajectories in the context of atypical executive functions.
As an example,
deficits in executive function are prominently implicated in
attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder. Therefore,
this review highlights ERP
studies that have investigated the above ERP components in this population.
Overall, ERPs provide a useful marker for the development and dysfunction of
executive skills, and provide insight into their neurophysiological basis.
CI - (c) 2017 Mac Keith Press.

Langue : ANGLAIS