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Introduction. Executive functions are defined as a set of skills that are involved in various activities which are novel to the individual and which require a creative solution. It is not easy or straight forward to conceptualise or identify the factors that make up a population of young children. Aim. To analyse the components of executive function due to the clinical implications in different neurodevelopmental disorders in a population-based sample of young children. Development. From the body of literature, 35 published papers that used different factor analysis approaches for factor extraction were reviewed. The probability of a study with three factors being undertaken in the stage between 0 to 12 years is 1.44 times higher than studies being undertaken with some focus on another structure. The probability of a study being undertaken that focuses on the Flexibility dimension in the stage between 0 to 12 years is 1.45 times higher than a study being undertaken that focuses on any other dimension. The association between the different structures and dimensions that are analysed with respect to age using the Kendall tau-b indicates a statistically significant association between: studies with three factors and age (tau = 0.29; p = 0.044) and flexibility with age (tau = 0.37; p = 0.012). Conclusions. The diversity of the obtained results can be attributed to, and is in line with, the plurality of theoretical conceptualisations, tests used and statistical analyzes carried out. It can be concluded that working memory, inhibition and flexibility are the executive processes most commonly found in the factorial models of executive control in young children and adolescents.

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El estudio de los déficit neuropsicológicos en los sujetos alcohólicos ha cobrado una especial relevancia en las últimas décadas. Esto se debe fundamentalmente a sus implicaciones en aspectos tan importantes como son el pronóstico terapéu-tico y el diseño de estrategias adecuadas de intervención. Este artículo presenta una revisión de los principales estudios sobre la afectación de la memoria y de las funciones ejecutivas en alcohólicos. Los resultados, aunque con ciertas discrepancias, sugieren la existencia de una alteración en la capacidad mnésica, que afecta sobre todo a la memoria de trabajo y a estrategias de aprendizaje. Asimismo se constata la presencia de un déficit en las funciones ejecutivas en los sujetos alcohólicos. Por otro lado, se valora la posibilidad de que esté déficit en las funciones ejecutivas actúe como un factor de vulnerabilidad a desarrollar alcoholismo. Palabras clave: Alcoholismo. Déficit neuropsicológicos. Memoria de trabajo. Funciones ejecutivas. Vulnerabilidad. ABSTRACTResearch into neuropsychological deficit in alcoholics has acquired a special prominence in the last decade. This is due to its importance for both the therapeutic outcome and the therapeutic design. A review of the main studies on memory impairments and on executive cognitive functioning in alcoholics is presented in this article. Results show a disturbance in the memory, especially in the working memory and in the learning strategies, although there are some discrepancies. In addition, data supporting the existence of a dysexecutive syndrome in alcoholics have been reported. Lastly, the influence of the executive cognitive function as a vulnerability factor in developing alcoholism is analysed.

Are intelligence and executive functions the same thing? Introduction. With the growth of cognitive science, the study of the cognitive components involved in solving tests to assess intelligence become especially significant. From this perspective, the g factor is conceived as the representative of the operation of high-level cognitive processes that control the computational programmes of the brain. Different names have been used to denominate the cognitive processes that underlie the g factor: control processes, executive functioning, executive control or executive functions. Development. We review the relationship between intelligence, on the one hand, and working memory and the executive functions construct, on the other. Furthermore, the article also reviews the relationship between intelligence and the prefrontal cortex, as its possible neuroanatomical substrate. Conclusions. The studies that were surveyed offer different answers to the question of whether intelligence and the executive functions are one and the same thing, the most widely accepted hypothesis being the one that sees intelligence and the executive functions as overlapping in some aspects but not in others.