Navigation
A bidirectional relationship between executive function and health behavior: evidence, implications, and future directions
While new evidence is emerging suggesting that executive function (set of processes necessary for cognitive control of behavior) promote healthy behaviors such as doing physical activities, and consuming less tobacco, fatty foods, and alcohol, this 2016 article looks at executive function enhancement and how it can be induced by adopting health-improving behaviors. After examining the association between executive function and the consistent performance of health-promoting behaviors and the avoidance of health risk behaviors, Allan et al. believe that executive function, health behavior, and disease processes are interdependent. Also proposed was the existence of a positive feedback loop in which health behavior-induced alterations in executive function encourage further health-enhancing behaviors, which in turn aids good health and the maintenance of efficient executive functions. This article presents the implications of this relationship, between executive function and health behaviors, for intervention strategies, the design of research studies, and the study of healthy aging. [NPID: cognition, executive function, tobacco, fatty foods, alcohol, aging]
Year: 2016
