Hot and cool executive function in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: Cross-sectional developmental trajectories

摘要

The development of executive function (EF) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has only been investigated using cool-cognitive-EF tasks. Little is known about the development of hot-affective-EF and whether it follows a similar developmental pathway. This study employed a cross-sectional developmental trajectories approach to examine the developmental changes in cool (working memory, inhibition, and planning) and hot EF (delay discounting and affective decision-making) of ASD participants (n=79) and controls (n=91) relative to age and IQ, shedding more light on the hot-cool EF organization. The developmental trajectories of some aspects of cool EF (working memory and planning) differed significantly as a function of age in ASD participants relative to controls. For both hot EFs, no significant age-related changes were found in either group. These findings extend our understanding regarding the maturation of EF from childhood through adolescence in ASD.