ABSTRACT
Executive functions include processes such as goal selection, planning, monitoring, sequencing, and other supervisory processes which permit the individual to impose organisation and structure upon his/her environment. There has been considerable recent neuropsychological interest in executive functions and the brain regions which are thought to subserve these capacities. Moreover, it appears that at least some executive functions may be compromised in older individuals, particularly in those people suffering from cognitive disorders such as dementia. Unfortunately, however, it has proven problematic to establish the precise brain regions which are critically implicated in the mediation of executive capacities, and the kinds of neuropsychological tests which are optimally sensitive to executive dysfunction.
