This article discusses the concept of executive function as a temporal integration process, involving tasks like preparatory adaptation, inhibitory control and working memory. Next, Baddeley's multicomponent model for working memory is criticized and a new classification of executive function is proposed which incorporates both the model of Fuster as well as that of Baddeley. Finally, this paper revisits the neurobiological concept of learning and suggests an approach to appraise the learning deficits that take into account the executive function as the cornerstone of the cognitive process.
executive function; working memory; learning; prefrontal cortex; neuropsychology
