Shaheen Sandra
Department of Psychology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Appl Neuropsychol Child. 2013;2(2):116-24. doi: 10.1080/21622965.2013.792668. Epub 2013 Jun 9.
Executive function often refers to control behaviors such as "initiating," "sustaining," "inhibiting," and "switching." These mechanisms contribute to regulation of thinking and emotion but can be observed most clearly in the motor system. Neuropsychology has been influenced by "top-down" models of cognitive control that emerged from information-processing theories of cognition. In fact, neural models provide evidence that control processes are highly interactive within the cortico-striatal-cerebellar circuits. Cognition unfolds in response to motor-driven adaptation, and evidence exists for similar firing of brain cells and circuits during "imagined action" as in actual motor behavior. The motor system develops early and yet is not routinely assessed in neuropsychological evaluation of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. This article reviews some of the approaches to motor assessment that have sensitivity to neurodevelopmental disorders, and advocates for inclusion of motor assessment, particularly in evaluating control processes independent of culture, language, and other confounders.
执行功能通常指诸如“启动”“维持”“抑制”和“转换”等控制行为。这些机制有助于调节思维和情绪，但在运动系统中最为明显。神经心理学受到源于认知信息处理理论的认知控制“自上而下”模型的影响。事实上，神经模型提供了证据表明控制过程在皮质 - 纹状体 - 小脑回路中具有高度交互性。认知是响应运动驱动的适应而展开的，并且在“想象动作”期间存在与实际运动行为中类似的脑细胞和回路放电的证据。运动系统发育较早，但在神经发育障碍儿童的神经心理学评估中并未常规进行评估。本文回顾了一些对神经发育障碍具有敏感性的运动评估方法，并主张纳入运动评估，特别是在评估独立于文化、语言和其他混杂因素的控制过程时。
