This work was supported by a grant from the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ES/L010437/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Allan, Julia L.

Daly, Michael

McMinn, David

Frontiers in Neuroscience

English

PubMed

Julia L. Allan

David McMinn

Michael Daly

Frontiers - Publisher Connector

A Bidirectional Relationship between Executive Function and Health Behavior: Evidence, Implications, and Future Directions

Research Archive

A bidirectional relationship between executive function and health behavior : evidence, implications, and future directions

Physically active lifestyles and other health-enhancing behaviors play an important role in preserving executive function into old age. Conversely, emerging research suggests that executive functions facilitate participation in a broad range of healthy behaviors including physical activity and reduced fatty food, tobacco, and alcohol consumption. They do this by supporting the volition, planning, performance monitoring, and inhibition necessary to enact intentions and override urges to engage in health damaging behavior. Here, we focus firstly on evidence suggesting that health-enhancing behaviors can induce improvements in executive function. We then switch our focus to findings linking executive function to the consistent performance of health-promoting behaviors and the avoidance of health risk behaviors. We suggest that executive function, health behavior, and disease processes are interdependent. In particular, we argue that a positive feedback loop may exist whereby health behavior-induced changes in executive function foster subsequent health-enhancing behaviors, which in turn help sustain efficient executive functions and good health. We conclude by outlining the implications of this reciprocal relationship for intervention strategies, the design of research studies, and the study of healthy aging

Allan, Julia L

Stirling Online Research Repository

A bidirectional relationship between executive function and health behavior: Evidence, implications, and future directions

Stirling Online Research Repository (RIOXX)

Physically active lifestyles and other health-enhancing behaviors play an important role

in preserving executive function into old age. Conversely, emerging research suggests

that executive functions facilitate participation in a broad range of healthy behaviors

including physical activity and reduced fatty food, tobacco, and alcohol consumption.

They do this by supporting the volition, planning, performance monitoring, and inhibition

necessary to enact intentions and override urges to engage in health damaging behavior.

Here, we focus firstly on evidence suggesting that health-enhancing behaviors can

induce improvements in executive function. We then switch our focus to findings linking

executive function to the consistent performance of health-promoting behaviors and

the avoidance of health risk behaviors. We suggest that executive function, health

behavior, and disease processes are interdependent. In particular, we argue that a

positive feedback loop may exist whereby health behavior-induced changes in executive

function foster subsequent health-enhancing behaviors, which in turn help sustain

efficient executive functions and good health. We conclude by outlining the implications

of this reciprocal relationship for intervention strategies, the design of research studies,

and the study of healthy aging

NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive

Maynooth University ePrints and eTheses Archive

MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library

http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2016.00386

A bidirectional relationship between executive function and health behavior : evidence, implications, and future directions

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Frontiers - Publisher Connector

Research Archive

Stirling Online Research Repository

Stirling Online Research Repository (RIOXX)

NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive

Frontiers - Publisher Connector

Maynooth University ePrints and eTheses Archive

MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library