Executive functioning in childhood: a view from cognitive neuropsychology

A few decades ago, Executive function or the voluntary control of attetion as well as behavior, decision making and thinking were considered abilities innate to second childhood. All these characteristics and human attributes were not the focus of study of old neuroscience before the Descartes’ error and the discovery of dysexecutive syndromes and their relationship with the prefontal cortex. However,and thanks to multiple investigations into how the prefrontal cortex operates, it has beeen reveled that they emerge from the early childhood. There is a systematic progress in which it has been established both theoretical and empirical evidende about the association among structures such as the upper part of the prefrontral, the dorsolatera region,and the increase in white matter with executive functions of inhibitory control working memory and cognitive flexibility between 3 to 5 years of age.This allows us to understand that a large part of the cognitive fuctioning of boys and girls stems from this age period. It is precisely from these findings, that the present work seeks to illustrate empiricallyin the Colombian context of the ethological intervention in neonates in the first chapter. In the subsequent chapters it is explained how to understand the executive functioning taking into account variables proper of the region such as urban vs rural. These variables affect the construction of the subject. According to the probabilistic perspective,the individuals are build from the interaction between both the genetic and environmental components. Therefore, early childhood is the period in which most of the develovpment of the cognitive function occurs. The results of the investigation presented in this production, constitute a new milestone in the growth of neurophycology in early childhood in Colombia. In the same way,it leads the way to the strenghtening of the contemporary integrative episteme in which human behavior canno be studied using the previous philosophical divisions.