Building the Brain’s “Air Traffic Control” System

Executive functioning is the brain’s “air traffic control” mechanism. The bundle of skills enables the brain to focus, filter information and switch gears. The joint working paper explains how these skills develop, what can inhibit their development and how they connect to healthy development in middle childhood and adolescence.

Executive function skills are the biological foundation for school readiness, providing the foundation for childrens’ abilities to learn to read, write and do math. According to the paper, extended exposure to threatening situations can compromise the development of executive function skills. Abusive and violent environments are especially toxic for the developing architecture of the brain. Executive function skills can be supported by specialized “staircase” programs that adjust task difficulty as a child’s performance improves, social play and effective preschool programs.

The paper emphasizes that executive function skills do not develop automatically as a child matures. Rather, evidence shows that a child’s experiences lay the foundation for the ongoing development of these skills. With this in mind, the authors of the paper conclude by urging policy interventions that would support better design of early child care and early childhood education, especially for programs that serve low-income children.

The working paper was published online in February 2011. It was co-authored by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs, two complementary initiatives from Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child.

Read the report.