and social functioning. Future directions Other important evidence for executive functions processes in the prefrontal cortex have been described. One widely cited review article emphasizes the role of the medial part of the PFC in situations where executive functions are likely to be engaged – for example, where it is important to detect errors, identify situations where stimulus conflict may arise, make decisions under uncertainty, or when a reduced probability of obtaining favourable performance outcomes is detected. This review, like many others, highlights interactions between medial and lateral PFC, whereby posterior medial frontal cortex signals the need for increased executive functions and sends this signal on to areas in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex that actually implement control. Yet there has been no compelling evidence at all that this view is correct, and, indeed, one article showed that patients with lateral PFC damage had reduced ERNs (a putative sign of dorsomedial monitoring/error-feedback) – suggesting, if anything, that the direction of flow of the control could be in the reverse direction. Another prominent theory emphasises that interactions along the perpendicular axis of the frontal cortex, arguing that a 'cascade' of interactions between anterior PFC, dorsolateral PFC, and premotor cortex guides behaviour in accordance with past context, present context, and current sensorimotor associations, respectively. Advances in neuroimaging techniques have allowed studies of genetic links to executive functions, with the goal of using the imaging techniques as potential endophenotypes for discovering the genetic causes of executive function. More research is required to develop interventions that can improve executive functions and help people generalize those skills to daily activities and settings See also Cognitive neuropsychology Executive dysfunction Metacognition Nonverbal learning disorder Purkinje cell Self-control Conscientiousness References External links The National Center for Learning Disabilities Amphetamine Cognition Motor control Neuropsychological assessment Neuropsychology Self