Editorial: Intra- and Inter-individual Variability of Executive Functions: Determinant and Modulating Factors in Healthy and Pathological Conditions

Executive functioning generally refers to the ability to organize thought and action based on intentions and goals, especially in novel, complex or difficult situations. Executive functioning is a multifaceted psychological construct that may be depicted as a set of related but separable high-level cognitive abilities, possibly supported by the prefrontal cortex and implemented by larger brain networks (Miyake et al., 2000; Shallice and Burgess, 1996 but see Duncan et al., 1997). Many models exist that emphasize commonalities or differences among various executive functions (EF). While the number and type of EF that exist remain a topic of debate, most authors would agree that EF show high intra- and inter-individual variability in terms of their cognitive and behavioral manifestations. But what are the determinant and modulating factors that might explain the variability across EF? Do neuro-anatomical or neuro-functional factors and/or the environment influence EF? The overall goal of our research topic was to provide a forum to explore the contributions of different research groups investigating intra- and inter-individual variability in EF. We welcomed empirical, theoretical and meta-analytical work involving both clinical and healthy human populations. We were impressed by the number of authors who did indeed rally to our call; our research topic resulted in contributions from 187 authors and 39 published articles. At the time of writing, our research topic has resulted in an impressive 62,809 total views and 5,728 article downloads. We hope after reading these articles, you will be more sensitive to the various factors that contribute to intra- and inter-subject variability in EF and will be inspired to consider these when studying EF in both healthy and pathological conditions. What follows is a brief overview of the contributions to our research topic. We aim to highlight some of the key influences on EF variability, and some of the interesting questions to emerge from these articles that we hope will encourage and influence future research. We appreciate that this editorial cannot fully do our research topic justice in terms of the breadth and depth of topics/questions included and so we encourage you to read further the contributions that these articles offer to the research area of EF.