Executive Functions
The prefrontal cortex is one of the most complex regions of the brain. It is often called headquarters, the conductor of an orchestra, or the pilot’s cabin, because it coordinates and directs behavior. From here we plan, inhibit impulses, regulate emotion, and manage attention.
Together with the cingulate cortex, it exercises control over subcortical structures such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and nucleus accumbens, integrating information from throughout the brain to make decisions and guide behavior, including in the classroom.
What Are Executive Functions?
These capacities depend on executive functions, a set of skills that can be trained and that enable us to regulate emotions, maintain attention, make decisions, and direct our behavior toward goals. They are fundamental both for academic performance and for social adaptation.
The three basic executive functions are:
Inhibitory Control: allows us to restrain impulses, regulate attention, and adjust behavior.
Working Memory (as described by Baddeley): maintains and manipulates information for a few seconds to think, solve problems, or follow instructions.
Cognitive Flexibility: allows us to change strategies, adapt to the unexpected, and modify behavior according to environmental demands.
From these basic functions, more complex ones are built, such as planning, decision-making, or metacognition.
Training Them in the Classroom
In the classroom, the most effective ways to train executive functions are through play, movement, art, and cooperation, because they activate the brain in states of motivation, exploration, and active learning. When students play, create, and collaborate, they naturally train their attention, self-control, and problem-solving capacity.
Metacognition as a Pillar
A fundamental pillar is metacognition—that is, learning to think about how we think. This increases awareness, improves autonomy, and strengthens critical thinking. Activities such as decision-making, mindfulness, or asking students to explain how they arrived at an answer are very useful.
The Socratic method and thinking routines also work very well, based on questions such as: Why? What would happen if…? Is there another way to look at it? These questions train reflection and perspective-taking.
To train executive functions simply:
Inhibitory Control: games like “Stop,” where you must act and stop at the right time.
Cognitive Flexibility: role-playing games and perspective shifts.
Working Memory: repeating sequences of numbers or words forward and backward.
In Summary
Working on executive functions means working on the foundation of learning, behavior, and well-being in the classroom.