title: Church of the East

text: In the 12th century Indian Nestorianism engaged the Western imagination in the figure of Prester John, supposedly a Nestorian ruler of India who held the offices of both king and priest. The geographically remote Malabar Church survived the decay of the Nestorian hierarchy elsewhere, enduring until the 16th century when the Portuguese arrived in India. With the establishment of Portuguese power in parts of India, the clergy of that empire, in particular members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), determined to actively bring the Saint Thomas Christians into full communion with Rome under the Latin Rite. After the Synod of Diamper in 1599, they installed Padroado Portuguese bishops over the local sees and made liturgical changes to accord with the Latin practice and this led to a revolt among the Saint Thomas Christians. The majority of them broke with the Catholic Church and vowed never to submit to the Portuguese in the Coonan Cross Oath of 1653. In 1661, Pope Alexander VII responded by sending a delegations of Carmelites headed by two Italians, one Fleming and one German priests to reconcile the Saint Thomas Christians to Catholic fold. These priests had two advantages – they were not Portuguese and they were not Jesuits. By the next year, 84 of the 116 Saint Thomas Christian churches had returned, forming the Syrian Catholic Church (modern day Syro-Malabar Catholic Church). The rest, which became known as the Malankara Church, soon entered into communion with the Syriac Orthodox Church. The Malankara Church also produced the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.


title: Church of the East

text: Nestorian Christianity is said to have thrived in Sri Lanka with the patronage of King Dathusena during the 5th century. There are mentions of involvement of Persian Christians with the Sri Lankan royal family during the Sigiriya Period. Over seventy-five ships carrying Murundi soldiers from Mangalore are said to have arrived in the Sri Lankan town of Chilaw most of whom were Christians. King Dathusena's daughter was married to his nephew Migara who is also said to have been a Nestorian Christian, and a commander of the Sinhalese army. Maga Brahmana, a Christian priest of Persian origin is said to have provided advice to King Dathusena on establishing his palace on the Sigiriya Rock.


title: Church of the East

text: The Anuradhapura Cross discovered in 1912 is also considered to be an indication of a strong Nestorian Christian presence in Sri Lanka between the 3rd and 10th century in the then capitol of Anuradhapura of Sri Lanka.


title: Church of the East

text: Christianity reached China by 635, and its relics can still be seen in Chinese cities such as Xi'an. The Nestorian Stele, set up on 7 January 781 at the then-capital of Chang'an, attributes the introduction of Christianity to a mission under a Persian cleric named Alopen in 635, in the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang during the Tang dynasty. The inscription on the Nestorian Stele, whose dating formula mentions the patriarch Hnanisho II (773–80), gives the names of several prominent Christians in China, including Metropolitan Adam, Bishop Yohannan, 'country-bishops' Yazdbuzid and Sargis and Archdeacons Gigoi of Khumdan (Chang'an) and Gabriel of Sarag (Loyang). The names of around seventy monks are also listed.


title: Church of the East

text: Nestorian Christianity thrived in China for approximately 200 years, but then faced persecution from Emperor Wuzong of Tang (reigned 840–846). He suppressed all foreign religions, including Buddhism and Christianity, causing the church to decline sharply in China. A Syrian monk visiting China a few decades later described many churches in ruin. The church disappeared from China in the early 10th century, coinciding with the collapse of the Tang dynasty and the tumult of the next years (the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period).


title: Church of the East

text: Christianity in China experienced a significant revival during the Mongol-created Yuan dynasty, established after the Mongols had conquered China in the 13th century. Marco Polo in the 13th century and other medieval Western writers described many Nestorian communities remaining in China and Mongolia; however, they clearly were not as vibrant as they had been during Tang times.


title: Church of the East

text: The Church of the East enjoyed a final period of expansion under the Mongols. Several Mongol tribes had already been converted by Nestorian missionaries in the 7th century, and Christianity was therefore a major influence in the Mongol Empire. Genghis Khan was a shamanist, but his sons took Christian wives from the powerful Kerait clan, as did their sons in turn. During the rule of Genghis's grandson, the Great Khan Mongke, Nestorian Christianity was the primary religious influence in the Empire, and this also carried over to Mongol-controlled China, during the Yuan dynasty. It was at this point, in the late 13th century, that the Church of the East reached its greatest geographical reach. But Mongol power was already waning as the Empire dissolved into civil war; and it reached a turning point in 1295, when Ghazan, the Mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate, made a formal conversion to Islam when he took the throne.


title: Church of the East

text: Rabban Bar Sauma had initially conceived of his journey to the West as a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, so it is possible that there was a Nestorian presence in the city ca.1300. There was certainly a recognisable Nestorian presence at the Holy Sepulchre from the years 1348 through 1575, as contemporary Franciscan accounts indicate. At Famagusta, Cyprus, a Nestorian community was established just before 1300, and a church was built for them .


title: Church of the East

text: The expansion was followed by a decline. There were 68 cities with resident Church of the East bishops in the year 1000; in 1238 there were only 24, and at the death of Timur in 1405, only seven. The result of some 20 years under Öljaitü, ruler of the Ilkhanate from 1304 to 1316, and to a lesser extent under his predecessor, was that the overall number of the dioceses and parishes was further reduced.


title: Church of the East

text: When Timur, the Turco-Mongol leader of the Timurid Empire, known also as Tamerlane, came to power in 1370, he set out to cleanse his dominions of non-Muslims. He annihilated Christianity in central Asia. The Church of the East "lived on only in the mountains of Kurdistan and in India". Thus, except for the Saint Thomas Christians on the Malabar Coast, the Church of the East was confined to the area in and around the rough triangle formed by Mosul and Lakes Van and Urmia, including Amid (modern Diyarbakır), Mêrdîn (modern Mardin) and Edessa to the west, Salmas to the east, Hakkari and Harran to the north, and Mosul, Kirkuk, and Arbela (modern Erbil) to the south - a region comprising, in modern maps, northern Iraq, southeast Turkey, northeast Syria and the northwestern fringe of Iran. Small Nestorian communities were located further west, notably in Jerusalem and Cyprus, but the Malabar Christians of India represented the only significant survival of the once-thriving exterior provinces of the Church of the East.


title: Church of the East

text: The complete disappearance of the Nestorian dioceses in Central Asia probably stemmed from a combination of persecution, disease, and isolation: "what survived the Mongols did not survive the Black Death of the fourteenth century." In many parts of Central Asia, Christianity had died out decades before Timur's campaigns. The surviving evidence from Central Asia, including a large number of dated graves, indicates that the crisis for the Church of the East occurred in the 1340s rather than the 1390s. Several contemporary observers, including the Papal Envoy Giovanni de' Marignolli, mention the murder of a Latin bishop in 1339 or 1340 by a Muslim mob in Almaliq, the chief city of Tangut, and the forcible conversion of the city's Christians to Islam. Tombstones in two East Syriac cemeteries in Mongolia have been dated from 1342, some commemorating deaths during a Black Death outbreak in 1338. In China, the last references to Nestorian and Latin Christians date from the 1350s, shortly before the replacement in 1368 of the Mongol Yuan dynasty with the xenophobic Ming dynasty and the consequential self-imposed isolation of China from foreign influence including Christianity.


title: Church of the East

text: From the middle of the 16th century, and throughout following two centuries, the Church of the East was affected by several internal schisms. Some of those schisms were caused by individuals or groups who chose to accept union with the Catholic Church. Other schisms were provoked by rivalry between various fractions within the Church of the East. Lack of internal unity and frequent change of allegiances led to the creation and continuation of separate patriarchal lines. In spite of many internal challenges, and external difficulties (political oppression by Ottoman authorities and frequent persecutions by local non-Christians), the traditional branches of the Church of the East managed to survive that tumultuous period and eventually consolidate during the 19th century in the form of the Assyrian Church of the East. At the same time, after many similar difficulties, groups united with the Catholic Church were finally consolidated into the Chaldean Catholic Church


title: Church of the East

text: Around the middle of the fifteenth century Patriarch Shemon IV Basidi made the patriarchal succession hereditarynormally from uncle to nephew. This practice, which resulted in a shortage of eligible heirs, eventually led to a schism in the Church of the East, creating a temporarily Catholic offshoot known as the Shimun line. The Patriarch Shemon VII Ishoyahb (1539–58) caused great turmoil at the beginning of his reign by designating his twelve-year-old nephew Khnanisho as his successor, presumably because no older relatives were available. Several years later, probably because Khnanisho had died in the interim, he designated as successor his fifteen-year-old brother Eliya, the future Patriarch Eliya VI (1558–1591). These appointments, combined with other accusations of impropriety, caused discontent throughout the church, and by 1552 Shemon VII Ishoyahb had become so unpopular that a group of bishops, principally from the Amid, Sirt and Salmas districts in northern Mesopotamia, chose a new patriarch. They elected a monk named Yohannan Sulaqa, the former superior of Rabban Hormizd Monastery near Alqosh, which was the seat of the incumbent patriarchs; however, no bishop of metropolitan rank was available to consecrate him, as canonically required. Franciscan missionaries were already at work among the Nestorians, and, using them as intermediaries, Sulaqa's supporters sought to legitimise their position by seeking their candidate's consecration by Pope Julius III (1550–5).


title: Church of the East

text: Sulaqa went to Rome, arriving on 18 November 1552, and presented a letter, drafted by his supporters in Mosul, setting out his claim and asking that the Pope consecrate him as Patriarch. On 15 February 1553 he made a twice-revised profession of faith judged to be satisfactory, and by the bull "Divina Disponente Clementia" of 20 February 1553 was appointed "Patriarch of Mosul in Eastern Syria" or "Patriarch of the Church of the Chaldeans of Mosul" ("Chaldaeorum ecclesiae Musal Patriarcha"). He was consecrated bishop in St. Peter's Basilica on 9 April. On 28 April Pope Julius III gave him the pallium conferring patriarchal rank, confirmed with the bull "Cum Nos Nuper". These events, in which Rome was led to believe that Shemon VII Ishoyahb was dead, created within the Church of the East a lasting schism between the Eliya line of Patriarchs at Alqosh and the new line originating from Sulaqa. The latter was for half a century recognised by Rome as being in communion, but that reverted to both hereditary succession and Nestorianism and has continued in the Patriarchs of the Assyrian Church of the East.


title: Church of the East

text: Sulaqa left Rome in early July and in Constantinople applied for civil recognition. After his return to Mesopotamia, he received from the Ottoman authorities in December 1553 recognition as head of "the Chaldean nation after the example of all the Patriarchs". In the following year, during a five-month stay in Amid (Diyarbakır), he consecrated two metropolitans and three other bishops (for Gazarta, Hesna d'Kifa, Amid, Mardin and Seert). For his part, Shemon VII Ishoyahb of the Alqosh line consecrated two more underage members of his patriarchal family as metropolitans (for Nisibis and Gazarta). He also won over the governor of Amadiya, who invited Sulaqa to Amadiya, imprisoned him for four months, and put him to death in January 1555.


title: Church of the East

text: This new Catholic line founded by Sulaqa maintained its seat at Amid and is known as the "Shimun" line. Wilmshurst suggests that their adoption of the name Shimun (after Simon Peter) was meant to point to the legitimacy of their Catholic line. Sulaqa's successor, Abdisho IV Maron (1555–1570) visited Rome and his Patriarchal title was confirmed by the Pope in 1562. At some point, he moved to Seert.


title: Church of the East

text: The Eliya-line Patriarch Shemon VII Ishoyahb (1539–1558), who resided in the Rabban Hormizd Monastery near Alqosh, continued to actively oppose union with Rome, and was succeeded by his nephew Eliya (designated as Eliya "VII" in older historiography, but renumbered as Eliya "VI" in recent scholarly works). During his Patriarchal tenure, from 1558 to 1591, the Church of the East preserved its traditional christology and full ecclesiastical independence.


title: Church of the East

text: The next Shimun Patriarch was likely Yahballaha IV, who was elected in 1577 or 1578 and died within two years before seeking or obtaining confirmation from Rome. According to Tisserant, problems posed by the "Nestorian" traditionalists and the Ottoman authorities prevented any earlier election of a successor to Abdisho. David Wilmshurst and Heleen Murre believe that, in the period between 1570 and the patriarchal election of Yahballaha, he or another of the same name was looked on as Patriarch. Yahballaha's successor, Shimun IX Dinkha (1580-1600), who moved away from Turkish rule to Salmas on Lake Urmia in Persia, was officially confirmed by the Pope in 1584. There are theories that he appointed his nephew, Shimun X Eliyah (1600–1638) as his successor, but others argue that his election was independent of any such designation. Regardless, from then until the 21st century the Shimun line employed a hereditary system of succession – the rejection of which was part of the reason for the creation of that line in the first place.


title: Church of the East

text: The next Eliya Patriarch, Eliya VII (VIII) (1591–1617), negotiated on several occasions with the Catholic Church, in 1605, 1610 and 1615–1616, but without final resolution. This likely alarmed Shimun X, who in 1616 sent to Rome a profession of faith that Rome found unsatisfactory, and another in 1619, which also failed to win him official recognition. Wilmshurst says it was this Shimun Patriarch who reverted to the "old faith" of Nestorianism, leading to a shift in allegiances that won for the Eliya line control of the lowlands and of the highlands for the Shimun line. Further negotiations between the Eliya line and the Catholic Church were cancelled during the Patriarchal tenure of Eliya VIII (IX) (1617–1660).


title: Church of the East

text: The next two Shimun Patriarchs, Shimun XI Eshuyow (1638–1656) and Shimun XII Yoalaha (1656–1662), wrote to the Pope in 1653 and 1658, according to Wilmshurst, while Heleen Murre speaks only of 1648 and 1653. Wilmshurst says Shimun XI was sent the pallium, though Heleen Murre argues official recognition was given to neither. A letter suggests that one of the two was removed from office (presumably by Nestorian traditionalists) for pro-Catholic leanings: Shimun XI according to Heleen Murre, probably Shimun XII according to Wilmshurst.


title: Church of the East

text: Eliya IX (X) (1660–1700) was a "vigorous defender of the traditional [Nestorian] faith", and simultaneously the next Shimun Patriarch, Shimun XIII Dinkha (1662–1700), definitively broke with the Catholic Church. In 1670, he gave a traditionalist reply to an approach that was made from Rome, and by 1672 all connections with the Pope were ended. There were then two traditionalist Patriarchal lines, the senior Eliya line in Alqosh, and the junior Shimun line in Qochanis.


title: Church of the East

text: As the Shimun line "gradually returned to the traditional worship of the Church of the East, thereby losing the allegiance of the western regions", it moved from Turkish-controlled territory to Urmia in Persia. The bishopric of Amid (Diyarbakır), the original headquarters of Shimun Sulaqa, became subject to the Alqosh Patriarch. In 1667 or 1668, Bishop Joseph of that see converted to the Catholic faith. In 1677, he obtained from the Turkish authorities recognition as holding independent power in Amid and Mardin, and in 1681 he was recognised by Rome as "Patriarch of the Chaldean nation deprived of its Patriarch" (Amid patriarchate). Thus was instituted the Josephite line, a third line of Patriarchs and the sole Catholic one at the time. All Joseph I's successors took the name "Joseph". The life of this Patriarchate was difficult: the leadership was continually vexed by traditionalists, while the community struggled under the tax burden imposed by the Ottoman authorities.


title: Church of the East

text: In 1771, Eliya XI (XII) and his designated successor (the future Eliya XII (XIII) Ishoyahb) made a profession of faith that was accepted by Rome, thus establishing communion. By then, acceptance of the Catholic position was general in the Mosul area. When Eliya XI (XII) died in 1778, Eliya XII (XIII) made a renewed profession of Catholic faith and was recognised by Rome as Patriarch of Mosul, but in May 1779 renounced that profession in favor of the traditional faith. His younger cousin Yohannan Hormizd was locally elected to replace him in 1780, but for various reasons was recognised by Rome only as Metropolitan of Mosul and Administrator of the Catholics of the Alqosh party, having the powers of a Patriarch but not the title or insignia. When Joseph IV of the Amid Patriarchate resigned in 1780, Rome likewise made his nephew, Augustine Hindi, whom he wished to be his successor, not Patriarch but Administrator. No one held the title of Chaldean Catholic patriarch for the next 47 years.


title: Church of the East

text: When Eliya XII (XIII) died in 1804, the Nestorian branch of the Eliya line died with him. With most of his subjects won over to union with Rome by Hormizd, they did not elect a new traditionalist Patriarch. In 1830, Hormizd was finally recognized as the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon, marking the last remnant of the hereditary system within the Chaldean Catholic Church.


title: Church of the East

text: This also ended the rivalry between the senior Eliya line and the junior Shimun line, as Shimun XVI Yohannan (1780–1820) became the sole primate of the traditionalist Church of the East, "the legal successor of the initially Uniate patriarchate of the [Shimun] line". In 1976, it adopted the name Assyrian Church of the East, and its patriarchate remained hereditary until the death in 1975 of Shimun XXI Eshai.


title: Church of the East

text: Accordingly, Joachim Jakob remarks that the original Patriarchate of the Church of the East (the Eliya line) entered into union with Rome and continues down to today in the form of the Chaldean [Catholic] Church, while the original Patriarchate of the Chaldean Catholic Church (the Shimun line) continues today in the Assyrian Church of the East.


title: Dominique Jackson (model)

text: Dominique Brebnor (born March 20, 1975), known professionally as Dominique Jackson and Tyra Allure Ross, is a Tobagonian-American actress, author, model, and reality television personality. As an actress, she is most known for her leading role of Elektra Abundance on the FX television series "Pose". As a model, she has appeared in "Vogue España".


title: Dominique Jackson (model)

text: Dominique Jackson was born on March 20, 1975, in Scarborough, Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago. Jackson grew up with her grandmother". She experienced a traumatic upbringing that included bullying and sexual abuse. Her family and community in Tobago did not accept her as transgender, and she was regularly reprimanded for displaying her natural feminine characteristics. At age 15, she moved to the United States and lived with her mother.


title: Dominique Jackson (model)

text: During her time in the United States, Jackson experienced homelessness and turned to sex work and living off credit cards for survival. It was in 1993, while living in Baltimore, Maryland, that Jackson was introduced to the ballroom scene. She then lived in various houses, including Revlon and Allure, before settling in the House of Sinclair in New York City.


title: Dominique Jackson (model)

text: So that she could develop the right opportunities, Jackson did most of her early modeling work for free. In 2009, she became a resident model for fashion designer Adrian Alicea and walked for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. She has also modeled for "Vogue España". She walked for the 2021 Mugler show, along with another trans model Hunter Schafer.


title: Dominique Jackson (model)

text: Jackson has appeared in "Call Me", "Christopher Street: The Series", "My Truth, My Story", a Caribbean LGBTQ oral history and storytelling documentary series produced by the Caribbean Equality Project, the documentary "Visible: The LGBTQ Caribbean Diaspora" and the Oxygen reality television series "Strut" (2016). Her work on "Strut" earned her a GLAAD Media Award nomination.


title: Dominique Jackson (model)

text: In 2018, Jackson began appearing in the leading role of Elektra Abundance on the FX series "Pose", set in the ballroom subculture scene in late-1980s New York City. The series premiered on June 3, 2018, and attracted critical acclaim. The first season boasted the largest cast of transgender actors for a scripted network series, with over 50 transgender characters/actors. She continued her role as Elektra Wintour in "Pose"s second and third seasons.


title: Dominique Jackson (model)

text: Jackson has been open about her mental health struggles. After a thirteen-year writing process, she released her autobiography "The Transsexual from Tobago". She has worked for several nonprofit organizations, such as Destination Tomorrow in the Bronx, that provide outreach and services to the LGBTQ+ community.


title: Dominique Jackson (model)

text: Jackson grew up very religious and was an active member of the church from a young age. When she was a child her family moved to New York, but she remained living with her grandmother in Trinidad and Tobago. Jackson revealed that around 11 years old she was sexually abused by a member of her church.


title: Dominique Jackson (model)

text: At 15 years old, she moved to Baltimore with her mother. During that time, she came in contact with the trans community for the first time.


title: Dominique Jackson (model)

text: Jackson was previously married to Al Jackson. They married at a courthouse in 2016 after dating for about 18 years, and held their wedding ceremony during an episode of "Strut."


title: Dominique Jackson (model)

text: In 2018, while vacationing at a resort in Aruba with her then-husband, Jackson reported to the authorities that a man attempted to rape her.


title: Dominique Jackson (model)

text: In 2020, Jackson revealed on her social media that she had separated from her husband Al in late 2018.


title: Takahiro Sakurai

text: His well-known roles include heroes such as Cloud Strife in "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII", Suzaku Kururugi in "Code Geass" and X in "Mega Man X", as well as villains such as Maximilien Robespierre in "Le Chevalier D'Eon", Hiltz in "", Sasori in "Naruto Shippūden", and Rohan Kishibe in "". He voiced the main character Miyuki Kazuya in "Ace of Diamond." He is the official Japanese dub voice for Robert Pattinson since "Twilight". His range is tenor. He is currently affiliated with INTENTION.


title: Takahiro Sakurai

text: Sakurai is the eldest of three siblings born to a family that owned a rice shop. When he was a child, he became interested in voice acting after watching a television interview with a voice actor. He graduated from Okazaki Johsei High School. After graduating from Yoyogi Animation Academy in Nagoya and 81 Acting Institute, he made his official anime debut in 1996 with the TV animation series "Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!!". Sakurai stated that he would have taken over his family's rice shop if he did not pursue voice acting.


title: Takahiro Sakurai

text: After moving on from the training school, he became a member of 81 Produce under the influence of his admiration for Toshihiko Seki. Even before his official debut, he had already received work in radio dramas and other projects during his time at the training school, but for a while after his debut, there was a period of time when he was unable to find work even after auditioning. In 1999, when he was 25 years old and wondering if he should quit voice acting, he got regular roles in two TV anime in a row, "Digimon Adventure" and "Sensual Phrase", and in the same year, he sang his first character song in his first starring movie, "Gate Keepers".


title: Takahiro Sakurai

text: On April 22, 2011, Sakurai won the "Male Character Voice Award" at Famitsu Awards 2010. In 2012, he won the "Overseas Fan's Award" at the 6th Seiyu Awards.


title: Takahiro Sakurai

text: In 2013, after a year of discussions with the record company, Sakurai announced on his radio show that he would be singing the character song for "Shirokuma Cafe". In April, he announced on the radio show "Cherry Bell Co., Ltd" that he would be leaving 81 Produce, where he had worked since his debut, and going freelance. On July 20, 2014, it was announced on the official website that he became a member of INTENTION, founded by his friend Kenichi Suzumura.


title: Takahiro Sakurai

text: On October 25, 2016, Sakurai stepped on the red carpet at the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival as John Paul in "Genocidal Organ" with Yuichi Nakamura as Clavis Shepherd. On October 25, 2018, he attended the 31st Tokyo International Film Festival as Metofies in "" with Mamoru Miyano as Haruo.


title: Takahiro Sakurai

text: Sakurai lists people like Ryūsei Nakao, Chō, Ryōtarō Okiayu, Tomokazu Seki, and Minami Takayama as his favorite and respected voice actors, and he had a close relationship with Keiji Fujiwara in his private life. He is good at illustration and once wanted to be an illustrator. In addition to the eyecatching illustrations in "", he was also a member of the key drawing staff for the final episode of "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2", and was credited as a logotype designer for the second season of "Active Raid".


title: Takahiro Sakurai

text:
Sakurai has been married to a former voice actress for nearly 20 years, which was not disclosed to the public until September 2022 after he acknowledged a report published by "Shukan Bunshun".
On October 26, 2022, "Shukan Bunshun" reported that Sakurai had been having an extramarital affair with a writer from his radio show, "P.S. Genki Desu: Takahiro," which began in October 2013 and had been terminated suddenly on October 24, 2022, without any explanation of reasons given. The two had been in a relationship for 10 years, with them intending to marry; however, prior to this, as alleged, the writer had not been aware of Sakurai's marital status until September 2022.
The listeners got furious that Sakurai and the writer, who was also a proactive speaker on the radio, deceived them into listening to and paying for their immoral romance from the very beginning of the program, but have not provided any explanations or apologies. The radio show sold many goods, including DVDs recording how Sakurai and the female writer enjoyed overseas trips together. On November 3, 2022, chief of the sponsoring company SECONDSHOT, who himself is also responsible for the show, issued apologies to the customers. However, the company has not recalled the products it sold before, except for the latest one to be released in November 2022.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: Fleet Foxes is an American indie folk band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2006. The band consists of Robin Pecknold (vocals, guitar), Skyler Skjelset (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals), Casey Wescott (keyboards, mandolin, backing vocals), Christian Wargo (bass, guitar, backing vocals), and Morgan Henderson (upright bass, guitar, woodwinds, violin, percussion, saxophone).


title: Fleet Foxes

text: Fleet Foxes came to prominence in 2008 with the release of their second EP "Sun Giant" and their eponymous debut album on Sub Pop. The band went on to release the studio albums "Helplessness Blues" (2011), "Crack-Up" (2017), and "Shore" (2020), all of which received widespread acclaim. Though the group has received modest commercial success, their work has been highly hailed by music critics, who have praised their lyricism and somber productions and often noted the band's use of refined instrumentation and vocal harmonies. The band's debut album was ranked by "Rolling Stone" among the best of the decade and was also included in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". The band has been nominated for two Grammy Awards, the first for Best Folk Album in 2012 for "Helplessness Blues" and the second for Best Alternative Music Album in 2022 for "Shore".


title: Fleet Foxes

text: Robin Pecknold and Skyler Skjelset both attended Lake Washington High School in Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle, and soon became close friends. Pecknold and Skjelset bonded over an appreciation of Bob Dylan and Neil Young and began making music together. Their parents influenced their musical tastes early on—Skjelset's mother Peggi was a keen listener to both Dylan and Hank Williams while Pecknold's father Greg was a member of The Fathoms, a local 1960s soul group. The two shared an interest in the music of Dylan and Brian Wilson. Pecknold played bass for Seattle's Dolour on a US tour in 2005, shortly before forming the first incarnation of Fleet Foxes.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: Originally going by the name "The Pineapples", a name clash with another local band prompted a change and Pecknold decided upon "Fleet Foxes", suggesting that it was "evocative of some weird English activity like fox hunting". Pecknold took up the role of principal songwriter, both singing and playing guitar, while Skjelset played lead guitar. The original lineup was filled out by Casey Wescott on keyboards and backing vocals, Bryn Lumsden on bass and Nicholas Peterson on drums and backing vocals.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: Pecknold's late-sixties pop style caught the attention of the Seattle producer Phil Ek and he helped them record their first demo in 2006, the self-released "Fleet Foxes" EP. Ek was impressed with the band's songwriting, and on hearing Pecknold for the first time, noted, "It was obvious he had talent coming out of his ass." By late 2006 the Seattle press began to take notice of the band; Tom Scanlon of the "Seattle Times" stated that he was impressed with the band's lyrics and musical maturity. By the end of the year, Lumsden had been replaced on bass by Craig Curran, who would also handle many of the band's vocal harmonies.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: With growing popularity on the local circuit, the band set about making their first album in early 2007, spending time in the studio with producer Ek in addition to recording material at home. However, funds for recording were tight, so the band members cobbled together what funds they had, which limited the time they had in the studio, and so the majority of the tracks were recorded in various band members' apartments, other spaces, or the basement of Pecknold's parents' house.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: Fleet Foxes were becoming increasingly popular and by late 2007, they had attracted over a quarter of a million song plays over two months on their Myspace site. Although the band had not released any of their recordings, they benefited from word of mouth exposure and their success soon translated into a record deal, signing with Warner Music subsidiary record label Sub Pop on January 18, 2008. The band's frontman, Robin Pecknold, attributes much of their success and popularity to illegal file sharing.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: The band tracked their second EP, "Sun Giant", at Bear Creek Studio and performed overdubs and mixed at Seattle's Avast! Recording Co., around the same time in preparation for upcoming tours. Fleet Foxes began their spring tour with another Northwest band Blitzen Trapper on February 28, 2008. Before the recording of the EP, bassist Curran was replaced by Christian Wargo, whose voice, like that of his predecessor, would become an important part of the band's harmony blend. The band's performances, first at the SXSW festival in March 2008, and then the Sasquatch! festival in May 2008, moved the band into the public consciousness, notably attracting attention from the European press for the first time.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: "Sun Giant" was released internationally on April 8, 2008, and the group's brand of folk, rock and pop, marked by their use of vocal harmonies, was well received by the press. Despite the warm critical reception, the group said that the EP did not represent their full ambitions, serving merely as a CD to sell while on tour. In May 2008, the band chose to extend their North American and European tour until September in support of their forthcoming album. At this time Josh Tillman replaced Peterson on drums and backing vocals. Their first full-length album, "Fleet Foxes", was released shortly afterwards on June 3, 2008. The album achieved similar critical success as the previous EP. "Fleet Foxes" received four out of five stars from "Rolling Stone", which compared it to the likes of the Beach Boys, Animal Collective, and Crosby, Stills & Nash, and a 9.0 out of 10 in a review by Pitchfork Media, sharing the website's album of the year rank with the "Sun Giant" EP. "The Guardian" was particularly complimentary, awarding the album five stars and declaring it "a landmark in American music — an instant classic". On June 24, 2008, "Fleet Foxes" went to No. 1 on the CMJ Radio 200 Chart. The album achieved an average rating of 87/100 from 30 critic reviews on the aggregator website Metacritic.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: While the group enjoyed moderate success in the United States, "Fleet Foxes" was better received in Europe, selling over 200,000 copies in the five months following its release. The sales were matched with critical plaudits and their debut album won "Uncut's" first ever Music Award 2008 prize. "Uncut"'s editor, Allan Jones, said the album "showed impeccable musicianship, and although you could trace its antecedents, it sounded totally unique. Fleet Foxes was just a glorious debut." The band sold out music venues for their tours of Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, reaffirming their growing popularity.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: At the end of 2008, "Fleet Foxes" was rated album of the year by "Billboard"'s Critic's Choice and in Metacritic's end of year best album round-up it appeared in 17 lists, topping six of them. Furthermore, it had sold over 408,000 copies in North America and over 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom, making it the first gold certificate record for UK label Bella Union. Their growing profile enabled the band to make televised appearances, playing on Vincent Moon's "La Blogotheque" in December 2008 and on "Saturday Night Live" the following January. In 2009, they toured in Europe to favorable reviews; the Dutch newspaper "De Volkskrant" said their show in Paradiso induced goosebumps. In 2008 and 2009, the band played globally ending the tour in September with a final European leg.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: Pecknold said that he would have liked the album to be released in 2009; however, the band's touring schedule delayed rehearsals of the new songs until February 2009. These sessions took place in a rented house outside Seattle, but were mostly scrapped, losing the band $60,000 of their own money. Further delays ensued because the drummer, Tillman, was scheduled to play a solo tour in Europe and North America throughout the 2009–10 winter. Pecknold later sent some demos to producer Phil Ek and expressed the hope that the second LP would emerge in late 2010.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: In December 2009, Pecknold said he wanted the new LP to sound "less poppy, less upbeat and more groove-based". He referenced the 12-string guitar sound from Roy Harper's folk album "Stormcock", saying, "That will be the primary sonic distancing from the last record." He wanted the band to record very quickly, with "vocal takes in one go, so even if there are fuck-ups, I want them to be on there. I want there to be guitar mistakes. I want there to be not totally flawless vocals. I want to record it and have that kind of cohesive sound. Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks", to me, is the best-sounding album because it sounds like there were only six hours in the universe for that album to be recorded in. So I want it to have that feeling." The band eventually began recording in April 2010 in various locations (including West Hurley, New York) under the label Reciprocal Recording and decided to scrap the earlier idea of a fast recording (though according to the band many of the initial vocals were done in one take). The album features a new six-piece band line up, with the addition of the former Blood Brothers bassist Morgan Henderson on upright bass and woodwind instruments.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: The album, "Helplessness Blues", was released on May 3, 2011, with a cover illustrated by the Seattle artist Toby Liebowitz and painted by Christopher Alderson. The title track was released via free download on January 31, 2011, and the album's fourth track, "Battery Kinzie", was premiered in the UK on Zane Lowe's radio show on March 22, 2011. The Sub Pop record label released a downloadable music video of the track "Grown Ocean", with footage of the album's recording, on its website in support of the album. A 12" vinyl double A-side single of "Helplessness Blues" and "Grown Ocean" was released for Record Store Day on April 16, 2011. On November 1, 2011, Pecknold's brother, Sean Pecknold, released the official music video for "The Shrine / An Argument".


title: Fleet Foxes

text: "Helplessness Blues" was nominated as Best Folk Album at the 2012 Grammy Awards, held February 12, 2012.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: On January 18, 2012, after the band had finished touring for the album, drummer Tillman announced that he had left the band. He would go on to reinvent himself and record several albums as Father John Misty, notable for his ironic sense of humor in lyrics and media as well as often criticizing both the record industry and society in interviews and on stage. Pecknold would later reflect on Tillman's departure during a Reddit AMA in October 2020:


title: Fleet Foxes

text: [Tillman] "quit" the band after recording drums for "Helplessness", got into narcotics and made his first [Father John Misty] album while I was making "Helplessness" in Seattle. Then Sub Pop offered to put out his album, but only if he delayed it for a year or so and toured "Helplessness" with us. Which we all weakly agreed to going through with, but it quickly became obvious he'd rather have just been doing that project instead, and I would have rathered that as well. So that tour I had to endure being around a lot of substance abuse, sabotaged shows, just general ill treatment, shit-talking, all while paying him for songs he didn't have anything to do with. It sucked!


title: Fleet Foxes

text: On June 15, 2013, an image of a home recording set-up—including a laptop computer, microphone and guitar—was posted on the Fleet Foxes Facebook page with the caption "Step one." On June 16, 2013, an image of a broken mandolin with the caption "Step two" was posted. These images were later deleted, but led to speculation that the group was working on a new project, possibly a third studio album. On April 23, 2014, Robin Pecknold posted to the band's Facebook page that he had moved to New York to get his undergraduate degree at the Columbia University School of General Studies, a liberal arts college of Columbia University in New York City.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: On May 18, 2016, while answering fan questions on his Instagram account, Pecknold confirmed that Fleet Foxes were working on new material with drummer and frequent collaborator Neal Morgan, best known for his work with Joanna Newsom and Bill Callahan. Describing Morgan as a "full Fox", Pecknold also admitted he "had to up my songwriting game for homeboy." However, when Pecknold posted a photo of the band minus Morgan on Instagram, he clarified that Morgan was one of three drummers involved in the new album, and that for the time being Fleet Foxes would consist of Pecknold, Skjelset, Wescott, Wargo, and Henderson as a "five-piece 'core band'", but they would still use a drummer for live performances and additional musicians for certain shows. Pecknold also said that the new material would be "a different vibe" compared to Fleet Foxes' previous output. On November 14, 2016, the band confirmed (via their Facebook account) that their new album was nearly complete.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: On December 25, 2016, Pecknold posted a photo on his Instagram account which showed four albums in the Fleet Foxes' queue in his iTunes library: the first studio album "Fleet Foxes"; the "Sun Giant" EP; the second studio album "Helplessness Blues"; and an unknown third album entitled "Ylajali". This led to speculation that the band's third album would: 1) be named after a character from Knut Hamsun's novel "Hunger"; 2) contain a photo from Japanese photographer Hiroshi Hamaya as the cover art; and 3) be released through Nonesuch Records, since the label's logo can be seen on the album cover.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: In an email newsletter on January 1, 2017, production company Mason Jar Music confirmed that Fleet Foxes was working on a new album, since they contributed to the production. The album was called "Crack-Up", after an F. Scott Fitzgerald essay of the same name. The album is a concept album and was recorded at Electric Lady Studios and Sear Sound in New York City.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: On March 7, 2017, Fleet Foxes announced their third studio album, "Crack-Up", released on June 16, 2017, via Nonesuch Records, a new label for the band. The lead single, "Third of May / Ōdaigahara", was released the same day. On April 4, 2017, the band posted the album trailer for the new album on YouTube. The trailer briefly presents various songs from the album and shows some images while they were recording them. The video was made by Sean Pecknold, Robin's brother.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: On May 15, 2017, Fleet Foxes made their live return at the Wilma Theatre in Missoula, in which they performed nine songs from "Crack-Up" along with a selection of older material and a cover of "In the Morning" by Bee Gees. The band's live line-up included Matt Barrick of The Walkmen, who was also the most heavily featured of the three guest drummers who contributed to "Crack-Up". Barrick did not become an official member. The new album also included the sounds of a brass quartet called The Westerlies.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: On October 10, 2017, the band announced the release of a new EP, entitled "The Electric Lady Session", for Black Friday Record Store Day 2017. The EP was released on November 24 of that year, and is a collection of live performances of four songs from "Crack-Up", originally recorded for their session at Fordham University's radio station WFUV. For Record Store Day 2018, the band released another EP, entitled "Crack Up (Choral Version)"/"In The Morning (Live in Switzerland)", in collaboration with the Icelandic female choir, Graduale Nobili.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: Work began on a fourth studio album in late 2018, not long after the Crack-Up tour finished. On December 31, 2018, Pecknold teased several new demos online for an upcoming new album.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: Recording began in September 2019 at Long Pond Studios in Hudson, New York, and continued at other studios including Electro-Vox Recording Studios in Los Angeles. Pecknold collaborated closely with recording engineer Beatriz Artola during the recording process. Upon the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pecknold moved to New York City to be able to continue working with Artola. At this point, the majority of the music of the album was well-conceptualized, but the lyrics eluded Pecknold. He eventually developed the lyrics in part over the course of long drives in the New York countryside, and worked to finish the album in July and August 2020. Due to a desire to release the album quickly, Pecknold did not enlist the help of bandmates Skjelset, Wescott, Wargo, or Henderson.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: The album was announced in September 2020; titled "Shore", it was released on September 22. The album received universal acclaim, scoring 87/100 on Metacritic, and was listed among the best albums of the year by numerous publications. It is nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.


title: Fleet Foxes

text: On December 6, 2021, Fleet Foxes announced the release of a new live album entitled "A Very Lonely Solstice". The album was released digitally on December 10, 2021. Vinyl and CD releases are scheduled for release in spring 2022 through Anti-. "A Very Lonely Solstice" is a recording of a virtual, pre-recorded video concert performance that was livestreamed at 9pm ET on December 21, 2020, coinciding with the winter solstice. The concert featured Pecknold performing an acoustic solo set inside the St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn. The album features performances of songs from "Shore" and older Fleet Foxes songs, as well as cover versions of two tracks.


title: Sexy Beast

text: Sexy Beast is a 2000 British crime film directed by Jonathan Glazer (in his feature film directorial debut) and written by Louis Mellis and David Scinto. It stars Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, and Ian McShane. It follows Gary "Gal" Dove (Winstone), a retired ex-gangster visited by a violent gangster (Kingsley) who demands that he take part in a bank job.


title: Sexy Beast

text: "Sexy Beast" was critically acclaimed and Kingsley's performance earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 2004, "Total Film" named "Sexy Beast" the 15th best British film. It was the final film to feature the actor Cavan Kendall, who died of cancer shortly after filming ended.


title: Sexy Beast

text: The British ex-criminal Gary "Gal" Dove is happily retired in Spain with his beloved wife DeeDee, his best friend Aitch and Aitch's wife Jackie. An old criminal associate, the feared sociopath Don Logan, arrives at Gal's villa, intent on enlisting Gal for a bank robbery in London planned by crimelord Teddy Bass. Teddy has learned about the bank vault from Harry, the bank's chairman, whom he met at an orgy. Gal declines, but Don continues to pressure Gal, growing increasingly aggressive and violent.


title: Sexy Beast

text: After Gal suggests Don's real reason for visiting is his infatuation with Jackie, with whom he had a brief affair, Don grows furious and leaves for England. On the plane, Don refuses to extinguish his cigarette prior to takeoff, is aggressive to staff and other passengers, and is ejected. He returns to the villa screaming obscenities and attacks Gal with a bottle. DeeDee aims Gal's shotgun at Don. The group shoot and beat him to death and bury him under Gal's swimming pool.


title: Sexy Beast

text: In London, Gal prepares for the heist. When Teddy questions Gal about Don's whereabouts, Gal claims Don returned to London and called him from Heathrow Airport. The heist involves using diving gear to drill into the bank vault from a pool in a neighbouring bath house. The pool water floods the vault and shorts its security system. As Teddy's crew empties the vault's safe deposit boxes, Gal secretly pockets a pair of ruby and diamond earrings.


title: Sexy Beast

text: After the job, Teddy insists on driving Gal to the airport. He stops at Harry's home, where he kills Harry and demands that Gal tell him where Don is. Gal responds that he is "not into this any more". In the car, Teddy indicates that he knew Gal was involved in something happening to Don, but that he does not care. He suggests he may visit Gal in Spain and humiliates him by paying him only £10 for the job.


title: Sexy Beast

text: Gal returns to his friends and family in Spain, where DeeDee wears the earrings and life has returned to normal. Gal still hears Don's voice in his head; he responds that Don is dead now and can "shut up".


title: Sexy Beast

text: The film was shot in London and Spain in the summer of 1999. Ray Winstone travelled to Spain two weeks before filming commenced to get as deep a tan as he could in the time possible and to eat as much as he could to bulk up considerably. He called it "the best rehearsal time I've ever had in my life." Winstone had originally been considered for the role of Don, along with Anthony Hopkins.


title: Sexy Beast

text: The producer Jeremy Thomas remembered his experience making the film: ""Sexy Beast" was the beginning of a new phase for me of working with first-time filmmakers. Jonathan Glazer was a television commercials director in the UK, and a wonderful talent. We were sent this script which he was attached to, and out came this wonderful film. It was very stimulating having a first time talent... The dialogue as you see in this film is exceptional. I had never read a script like it, and I thought, this has got to be made. It was very difficult to get insurance on the film actually. When the American studio bought the film, their legal department said: "You cannot make this." It has something like 300 uses of the word "cunt", and 400 "fucks", but somehow it passed the censorship and got out there."


title: Sexy Beast

text: , the film has an approval rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 138 reviews with an average rating of 7.30/10. The site's critical consensus states, ""Sexy Beast" rises above other movies in the British gangster genre due to its performances -- particularly an electrifying one by Ben Kingsley -- and the script's attention to character development." On Metacritic, it has a rating of 79/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". It received praise from writers at the "San Francisco Chronicle", "Entertainment Weekly", "Slate", "Rolling Stone" and the "Los Angeles Times". Stephen Hunter of "The Washington Post" was less enthusiastic and described some of the film's moments as "Ben Kingsley spraying saliva-lubricated variants of the F-word into the atmosphere like anti-aircraft fire for 10 solid minutes."


title: Sexy Beast

text: Sexy Beast grossed $10.2 million on a budget of $4.3 million, making it a relative box office success.


title: Sexy Beast

text: Kingsley's performance received a majority of the accolades given to "Sexy Beast", winning Best Supporting Actor awards from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Boston Society of Film Critics, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association, Florida Film Critics Circle, San Diego Film Critics Society, Southeastern Film Critics Association and the Toronto Film Critics Association. He also was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award (losing to Ian McKellen for his performance in ""), a Golden Globe and an Academy Award (losing both to Jim Broadbent for his performance in "Iris"). The film also won Best Director and Best Screenplay from the British Independent Film Awards and Special Recognition ("For excellence in film making") from the National Board of Review.


title: Sexy Beast

text: Original music by English electronic band UNKLE in collaboration with South and also Spanish composer/saxophonist Roque Baños. Dean Martin's version of "Sway" accompanies the film's end credits. The soundtrack also includes "Peaches" by The Stranglers, "Cuba" by The Gibson Brothers, "G-Spot" by Wayne Marshall, "Daddy Rollin' Stone" by Derek Martin, and Henry Mancini's "Lujon" (from the 1961 LP "Mr. Lucky Goes Latin").


title: Sexy Beast

text: Vocalist and guitarist Brian Sella of American folk punk band The Front Bottoms attributes the band's name to this film.


title: Sexy Beast

text: The film was also the inspiration behind The Kooks song 'Jackie Big Tits', after a line spoken by Ben Kingsley's character.


title: Sexy Beast

text: A prequel television series based on the film was in development at Paramount Network, which was being produced by Paramount Television Studios and Anonymous Content. However, the series was scrapped by Paramount Network. On February 15, 2022, ViacomCBS Networks UK And Australia announced that the series was revived for Paramount+, but will instead be produced by Chapter One and Paramount International Networks.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: Vickie Lynn Benson (formerly Guerrero, née Lara; born April 16, 1968) is an American professional wrestling personality and manager. She is best known for her time in WWE, under the ring name Vickie Guerrero. She is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as the manager of Nyla Rose.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: In wrestling, she has appeared as an on-screen authority figure, storyline lover to several WWE wrestlers, occasional professional wrestler in the WWE Divas division, and as a manager for numerous wrestlers. She was best known in her role as General Manager of SmackDown from 2007 to 2011, and of Raw from 2011 to 2013. Since leaving WWE in 2014, she has made sporadic appearances in the company.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: She is known for her villainous persona and igniting negative reactions from audiences with her catchphrase, "Excuse me!". She is the widow of professional wrestler Eddie Guerrero, which has been occasionally incorporated into WWE storylines.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: In 2005, Vickie Guerrero made her debut as a face with her husband Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio, when a storyline escalated in which Eddie promised to reveal a secret concerning Mysterio's son, Dominik. Vickie was on the July 14 episode of "SmackDown!" with two of Eddie's three daughters to stop Eddie from revealing Mysterio's secret. Eddie promised not to reveal the secret, he lost to Mysterio at The Great American Bash, though that turned out to be another one of his character's trademark lies, as Eddie revealed that Dominik was really his (kayfabe) biological son. Vickie later reappeared at SummerSlam to convince Eddie to put a stop to his war with Mysterio and not to go through with the "Custody of Dominik" ladder match that night. When that failed, she cost him the match by pushing over the ladder he was on as he was about to win. After that she held down Eddie on the ground afterwards so he couldn't get up and attack Mysterio. On November 13, 2005, Eddie Guerrero died of heart failure in his Minneapolis hotel room and was found by his nephew Chavo. On-screen, this led to Rey Mysterio, Eddie's real-life friend, getting more screen time and higher profile matches, including defeating Kurt Angle and Randy Orton at WrestleMania 22 for the World Heavyweight Championship. The night before WrestleMania, Eddie was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, and Vickie accepted the honor on his behalf.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: In 2006, approximately seven or eight months after Eddie's death, Vickie started appearing more prominently in more controversial storylines. She first asserted herself during a feud between Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero when Chavo accused Mysterio of being "nothing but a leech living off the blood of the Guerrero name" on the August 4 "SmackDown!". Subsequently, she acted as peacemaker between the two former friends until she seemingly inadvertently interfered in their match at SummerSlam in 2006, costing Mysterio the match. Vickie later openly sided with Chavo and hit Mysterio in the back with a chair on the following "SmackDown!", turning heel in the process. On the September 1 "SmackDown!", the evil Vickie declared herself Chavo's business manager and Mysterio an "insignificant chapter" in her past. At No Mercy, Chavo lost to Mysterio in a Falls Count Anywhere match. On October 20, Rey Mysterio lost an "I Quit" match against Chavo after interference from Vickie.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: On October 27, 2006, Chris Benoit became involved in the storyline. He tried to figure out what Vickie was doing with Eddie's estate while also defending the WWE United States Championship in a rivalry with Chavo. At Survivor Series, Chavo kicked out of an attempted sharpshooter, causing Benoit to knock Vickie off the ring apron and on her head, causing her to begin to wear a neck brace and blame Benoit for "intentionally" hitting her. At the end of December, she interfered in a United States Championship match between Chavo and Benoit, which caused Chavo to lose and Benoit to retain the title. As a result, Chavo shouted "If you wanted me to win the title, then stop getting me disqualified," before pushing Vickie over.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: In May 2007, Kristal, the on-screen girlfriend of General Manager Theodore Long, convinced him to give Guerrero an interview for the position as his assistant. A week after the interview, Vickie was given the job, turning face once again. On the June 29 episode of "SmackDown!", Vickie acted as interim general manager of "SmackDown!" while Long was planning his wedding with Kristal. She was soon named the maid of honor at Long and Kristal's "wedding". On the September 21 episode of "SmackDown!", Long suffered a kayfabe heart attack during his wedding to Kristal before they had legally wed. The following week, Vince McMahon named Vickie the new General Manager. On the November 23 episode of "SmackDown!", she "punished" Edge for his interference in the championship match at the Survivor Series by making him the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, before revealing that she had begun a romantic relationship with him and had facilitated his "plan" to regain the belt. As a result, Vickie turned heel once again. Later in the night, as she stood alone in the ring, after watching Edge be attacked by Batista, The Undertaker appeared and performed a Tombstone Piledriver on Vickie. After being off-air for several weeks, she returned on the December 14 episode of "SmackDown!" in a wheelchair, making biased matches in favor of Edge which led to him winning the World Heavyweight Championship at Armageddon.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: In early 2008, she formed La Familia with her nephew Chavo, Edge, the team of Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, and later, Bam Neely. One of her first acts as part of the new group was to help Chavo win the ECW Championship from CM Punk. At the Royal Rumble, Vickie interfered in the World Heavyweight Championship match between Edge and Rey Mysterio, allowing Edge to retain his title. On the subsequent airing of "SmackDown", Edge proposed to Vickie, who accepted, but the event was interrupted by Mysterio. After Vickie had helped Edge to retain his championship for almost four months, he eventually dropped the title to The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXIV. This started a feud between Edge and the Undertaker, with Vickie giving Edge numerous title opportunities and placing The Undertaker in difficult matches. On the May 2 episode of "SmackDown", she stripped The Undertaker of his championship after deciding that his new gogoplata (dubbed Hell's Gate) submission hold was too dangerous and made a Tables, ladders, and chairs match at One Night Stand between The Undertaker and Edge for the vacant title with the stipulation that Undertaker would be banished from WWE if he lost. Following interference, Edge won the match and the World Heavyweight Championship and Vickie 'banished' Undertaker. However, Edge lost his title shortly afterwards to CM Punk on the June 30 episode of "Raw". On the July 4 episode of "SmackDown", Edge took his frustrations for losing the World Heavyweight Championship out on Vickie by telling her the wedding was off. The next week, however, Edge re-proposed to Vickie after "SmackDown" had gone off the air.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: On the July 18 episode of "SmackDown", at the wedding reception (the wedding had occurred off-screen before the show) Triple H came out and showed a video of Edge cheating on Vickie the day before with Alicia Fox, the wedding planner. The storyline continued at The Great American Bash when Fox attempted to hand Edge the WWE Championship belt to use as weapon, but was stopped with a clothesline by Vickie. Edge attempted to spear the referee to delay the match, but hit Vickie instead. Triple H used this distraction to recover and hit a Pedigree to retain his title. On the July 25 episode of "SmackDown", Edge attempted to get Vickie to forgive him, but instead she announced the reinstatement of his former enemy The Undertaker, whom Edge would face at SummerSlam in a Hell in a Cell match, turning her into a face in the process. A few weeks later, as revenge, Edge attacked the members of La Familia and tipped Vickie from her wheelchair. The Undertaker refused to accept her apology for his banishment, but Vickie stated that she was not afraid of him. She also stated that at Unforgiven, she would force him to apologize to her, but at Unforgiven when The Undertaker did not comply, the Big Show knocked him out and Vickie spat in his face, turning heel once again. Big Show then aligned himself with Vickie, and for the next two weeks they continued to gloat at how they beat The Undertaker. After Undertaker attacked Chavo, Vickie pleaded with Undertaker for forgiveness for her actions. Undertaker, however, once again hit her with a Tombstone Piledriver, forcing Vickie to rely on both a neckbrace and a wheelchair again. Over the following weeks, Vickie put the Undertaker in matches against the Big Show that seemed impossible for him to win. The feud ended after Big Show lost to Undertaker in a casket match at Survivor Series.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: At Survivor Series, during a match for the WWE Championship between the champion Triple H and Vladimir Kozlov, Vickie came out to the arena making the announcement that "he's here". Edge's music was played and he came out to compete, making it a triple threat match. Edge won the championship, and as he went to the back, he greeted Vickie with a hug. On the December 5 episode of "SmackDown" they shared a kiss, thus reinstating their on-screen relationship. On the special December 8 episode of "Raw", Vickie and Edge won a Slammy Award for the Couple of the Year.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: On February 23, 2009, she was appointed the interim General Manager of "Raw" during Stephanie McMahon's absence. On the following "Raw", Guerrero announced that Edge would be facing Big Show for his World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 25. On the March 9 episode of "Raw", John Cena showed footage of Vickie cheating on Edge with Big Show after Guerrero had added Cena to the World Heavyweight Title match through blackmail of revealing the secret affair, making it a triple threat in the process. At WrestleMania, Edge lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Cena after Cena pinned Big Show after Cena delivered the Attitude Adjustment to Edge onto the Big Show. On the April 6 episode of "Raw", Guerrero was given the choice of either being General Manager of "Raw" or "SmackDown". She then announced that she would move to "Raw" in order to become its new General Manager, subsequently resulting in her being separated from Edge. However, Big Show and her nephew Chavo were also moved to "Raw" during the 2009 WWE Draft and Supplemental Draft, respectively.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: After being insulted for a few weeks because of her weight by Santino Marella, Vickie, with help from William Regal, won the "Miss WrestleMania" crown from Santina Marella, Santino's "twin sister", in a No Disqualification match sanctioned by Chavo on the May 18 episode of "Raw". On June 7 at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view, Vickie lost the "Miss WrestleMania" crown to Santina in a hog pen match with Chavo by her side. The following night on "Raw", Vickie announced her resignation as Raw's General Manager. After her announcement, Edge came out and told Vickie that he was sorry for saying disrespectful things about her, only to reveal that he only married her so she could help him in World Championship matches, and now that she quit, she was useless to him in his endeavors to become the champion again. He then told Vickie that he wanted a divorce, leading to her suffering from a nervous breakdown. In reality, Vickie had requested to leave WWE so that she could spend more time with her family.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: Guerrero returned to WWE on the "SmackDown" 10th Anniversary special episode on October 2, with a drastically changed new look, where she introduced her storyline boyfriend, then-heel, Eric Escobar, who she would be managing on the SmackDown brand. On the November 20 "SmackDown", Guerrero was named as a "SmackDown" consultant by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. The following week after Escobar failed to capture the Intercontinental title from John Morrison, Vickie ended their relationship. Escobar claimed that he could not take it any longer, saying he only went out with her for power, mirroring what Edge admitted as to why he had married Vickie on the June 8 episode of "Raw". Guerrero then put him in a handicap match with The Hart Dynasty the following week, and the week after put him in another handicap match against Chris Jericho and Big Show. The storyline was soon dropped when Escobar was released by WWE.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: Guerrero began involving herself in the already heated rivalry between WWE Women's Champion Mickie James and Michelle McCool and Layla, taking the sides of Team LayCool after Mickie accidentally doused her with cottage cheese on the February 12 episode of


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: "SmackDown". On the February 26 "SmackDown", Guerrero acted as special guest referee for a title match between James and McCool, ultimately costing James the title after slapping her. Two weeks later she got involved in a match between WWE Women's Champion Michelle McCool and Tiffany causing Tiffany to win the match by DQ. After the match, McCool and Layla began to beat down Tiffany until Beth Phoenix made the save, in the process delivering a clothesline to Vickie. Two weeks later Guerrerro appeared in a 5-on-1 handicap match with Alicia Fox, Maryse and Team LayCool against Beth Phoenix. Guerrero mainly hid behind Alicia Fox, Maryse, and Team LayCool, letting her partners do the dirty work until Phoenix was weakened and Guerrero made the pin, winning the match. At WrestleMania XXVI, Guerrero's team won a 10-woman tag team match when she climbed the turnbuckle and gestured to the sky before connecting a frog splash, as tribute to her late husband, Eddie. On the May 10 episode of "Raw", Guerrero was named the permanent general manager of the Raw brand for the second time, but then resigned on the same night after being intimidated by Randy Orton. Although not the general manager, she returned to SmackDown as the Consultant on the May 14 episode and forced Phoenix to face Team LayCool in a handicap match, which Layla won to achieve her first WWE Women's Championship.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: In June she began a romance storyline with Dolph Ziggler and began accompanying him to the ring. On the August 31 episode of "NXT", it was announced that Vickie would be the storyline mentor of Aloisia for the all-female third season. However, due to certain circumstances, Aloisia was sent to Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE's developmental system and was later released. Vickie was assigned a new rookie on the show, Kaitlyn, whom she began feuding with. On October 5, she was defeated by Kaitlyn in a rookie versus pro match. Kaitlyn was caught backstage kissing Vickie's boyfriend, Ziggler, which added more fuel to the fire. Kaitlyn went on to win NXT and later joined SmackDown.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: In January 2011, she became the acting General Manager of SmackDown after Theodore Long was found unconscious backstage. At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Kelly Kelly attacked Guerrero during Ziggler's match with Edge. On the February 4 episode of "SmackDown", Ziggler and LayCool lost to Edge and Kelly in a two-on-three handicapped mix tag match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Afterwards, Guerrero fired Kelly, and announced a championship match between Edge and Ziggler, with her serving as the special guest referee of the match. The following week, while officiating the match, she attempted to spear Edge but injured her ankle as part of the storyline. While she was down, Clay Matthews of the Green Bay Packers replaced her as referee, and Edge went on to win the match. On "SmackDown"'s 600th episode the following week, she stripped Edge of the title and fired him in the storyline. Later that night, there was a coronation for Ziggler as World Heavyweight Champion. However, the returning Theodore Long revealed that he was once again in charge and that Vickie and Ziggler were the culprits behind his assault, thus making an impromptu match between Ziggler and a reinstated Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship, in which Edge won. After the match, Long fired Ziggler. On the February 25 episode of "SmackDown", Long announced that a match would take place with Edge and Kelly Kelly facing Vickie and Drew McIntyre. Vickie lost the match, and was then fired (kayfabe) from her consultant role by Long.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: On the March 7 episode of "Raw", Guerrero and Ziggler made their return to the brand, with Vickie managing him in a singles match defeating John Morrison. After the match, the anonymous Raw General Manager informed Vickie that Ziggler had indeed been hired, but they did not hire her yet. The general manager then continued by issuing a match between her and Trish Stratus for the following week, with the stipulation being if Vickie wins, she would be hired. The following week, Vickie defeated Trish in a No Disqualification match with the help of Team LayCool. Afterwards, Guerrero challenged Stratus, Morrison, and that week's "Raw" guest star Snooki, who had slapped Guerrero earlier in the night, to a six-person mixed tag team match against LayCool and Ziggler at WrestleMania XXVII, which they accepted. On the March 21 episode of "Raw", Guerrero, LayCool, and Ziggler lost to Stratus and Morrison in a 4-on-2 handicap match. At WrestleMania XXVII, Vickie's team of LayCool and Ziggler were defeated by Snooki, Stratus, and Morrison. The night after WrestleMania, on "Raw", Vickie and Ziggler were defeated by Stratus and Morrison.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: At the Capitol Punishment pay-per-view, Ziggler won the United States Championship from Kofi Kingston, with the help of Guerrero. The next night on "Raw", Ziggler retained the championship from Kingston by disqualification. Later that night, Vickie lost a dance contest to Michael Cole, despite Cole receiving the most boos. On the September 12 "Raw", Vickie lost to the Divas Champion, Kelly Kelly, due to Ziggler fighting with Jack Swagger. On the September 19 "Raw" after weeks of pursuing for Vickie's services, Jack Swagger convinced Vickie to sign a managerial contract. At , Ziggler lost the United States Championship to Zack Ryder, who lost the title to Swagger on the January 16, 2012, episode of "Raw". On the March 5 "Raw", Swagger lost the United States Championship to Santino Marella. On the June 18 episode of "Raw", Vickie ended her clientele service with Jack Swagger and renewed her romantic relationship with Ziggler.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: After showing "evidence" to the WWE Board of Directors of AJ Lee "fraternizing" with a WWE wrestler – which was later stated as John Cena – AJ was asked to resign. On the October 22 episode of "Raw", Mr. McMahon announced Guerrero as the new "Raw" Managing Supervisor. On the December 10 episode of "Raw", Guerrero defeated AJ with help from Brad Maddox, who was the special referee for the match. At the pay-per-view, Guerrero tried to help Dolph Ziggler in his ladder match against Cena, until she was attacked by AJ, who betrayed Cena and helped Ziggler win. The following night on "Raw", Guerrero teamed with Cena to defeat the new couple of Ziggler and AJ by disqualification due to interference from Big E Langston.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: On the February 18, 2013, episode of "Raw", Guerrero named Brad Maddox as her assistant, where Maddox came up with the name of Team Brickie. In mid-2013, Vickie entered a storyline where Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, and Triple H pressured her to increase the level of her authority. On the July 8 episode of "Raw", after undergoing a job evaluation, the fans did not vote in Vickie's favor, resulting in her getting fired by Stephanie McMahon. Vince McMahon tried to console her afterwards, and appointed her assistant, Brad Maddox, as the new General Manager.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: On the July 19 episode of "SmackDown", Vince McMahon hired Guerrero as the new General Manager of SmackDown. Guerrero told the fans she hated each and every one of them, blaming them for her getting fired as Managing Supervisor of Raw. In addition to this, when Maddox congratulated her, Guerrero slapped him, and in revenge for having security escort her out by Teddy Long's orders the week before, Vickie had Long escorted out by security. On the October 7 episode of "Raw", after announcing that Alberto Del Rio would defend the World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena at Hell in a Cell, she distracted Del Rio in his match against Ricardo Rodriguez, allowing Rodriguez to pick up the win. Following this, Vickie argued with Kane and Brad Maddox over who should be in charge. On the November 18 episode of "Raw", Stephanie McMahon forced Guerrero to compete in a match against the Divas Champion AJ Lee, which she lost. On March 24, 2014, episode of "Raw", after hearing insulting comments from AJ towards her, Guerrero forced AJ to defend her Divas Championship in a 14-woman "Vickie Guerrero Invitational" at WrestleMania XXX. On the June 16 episode of "Raw", Roman Reigns tried to convince Vickie to put him into the battle royal for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship opportunity at Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Vickie however refused, because The Authority wouldn't allow him in it. Reigns then spiked the coffee she gave to Stephanie McMahon, causing Stephanie to throw up on Vickie and leave with Triple H to the hospital. Vickie later gave Reigns a chance in the battle royal, which he won. On June 23 episode of "Raw", Vickie lost in a pudding match against Stephanie McMahon with her job on the line, after interference by Alicia Fox, Layla and Rosa Mendes. Vickie also ultimately lost the match and she was fired as general manager of both shows, got her retribution over McMahon by throwing her into the mud pool and mouthed, "I love you"; a tribute to her late husband, Eddie Guerrero, and performed his signature taunt while leaving the stage, turning face for the first time since 2006. This was done to write her off television, as she had requested her release a few months before.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: On the July 4, 2016 episode of "Raw", Vickie returned to WWE as a villainess once again, announcing her intentions to become the new "SmackDown Chief Operating Officer" after the WWE Brand Extension returned on July 19; however, she was escorted out of the arena by two security guards. While being escorted out, Vickie encountered Dolph Ziggler backstage, who denied knowing her at all.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: On January 28, 2018, at the Royal Rumble, Guerrero made a surprise entrance at number 16 during the first women's Royal Rumble match, in which she was eliminated by Becky Lynch, Michelle McCool, Ruby Riott, & Sasha Banks in 57 seconds. Afterwards, she attacked Carmella, who entered at number 17, by hitting her with her Money in the Bank briefcase. On the 1000th episode of "Smackdown" she returned as a face


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: On December 11, 2019, she appeared as a guest commentator for All Elite Wrestling taping of "AEW Dark" Episode 11 that premiered December 17, 2019 on YouTube. According to Guerrero, this appearance caused WWE to "cut her off". On July 15, 2020, at Fight for the Fallen, Guerrero was revealed as Nyla Rose's manager. On the June 4, 2021, Guerrero also revealed Andrade El Idolo as her new client.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: Guerrero's approach to her work as manager is "to make them shine and do my little part and just be there at the right moment and the right time to do the right thing" while "my role is just an embellishment of the superstar that’s in the ring. I don’t want to overshadow them". She uses the catchphrase "Excuse me".


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: Guerrero has appeared in two video games. She made her in-game debut in "WWE '12" as a playable DLC character and in "WWE 2K15" as an exclusive manager for the Microsoft Windows, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: Guerrero is a Christian of French and Mexican descent. Vickie married Eddie Guerrero on April 24, 1990, after three years of dating. Guerrero's father encouraged them to marry following the announcement of Vickie's first pregnancy. Together, Vickie and Eddie had two daughters: Shaul Marie Guerrero (born October 14, 1990), who is married to fellow professional wrestler Aiden English, and Sherilyn Amber Guerrero (born July 8, 1995). They were married until his death.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: On June 18, 2015, Vickie announced her engagement to partner Kris Benson, and the two were married on September 12, 2015.


title: Vickie Guerrero

text: After leaving WWE in 2014, she revealed her plans to start a new career in medical administration. Vickie became officially certified as a medical office administrator and was hired by a pharmaceutical company as a medical administrator. In 2019, she graduated from Herzing University with a Bachelor of Science in healthcare administration.


title: Executive functions

text: In cognitive science and neuropsychology, executive functions (collectively referred to as executive function and cognitive control) are a set of cognitive processes that are necessary for the cognitive control of behavior: selecting and successfully monitoring behaviors that facilitate the attainment of chosen goals. Executive functions include basic cognitive processes such as attentional control, cognitive inhibition, inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Higher-order executive functions require the simultaneous use of multiple basic executive functions and include planning and fluid intelligence (e.g., reasoning and problem-solving).


title: Executive functions

text: Executive functions gradually develop and change across the lifespan of an individual and can be improved at any time over the course of a person's life. Similarly, these cognitive processes can be adversely affected by a variety of events which affect an individual. Both neuropsychological tests (e.g., the Stroop test) and rating scales (e.g., the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function) are used to measure executive functions. They are usually performed as part of a more comprehensive assessment to diagnose neurological and psychiatric disorders.


title: Executive functions

text: Cognitive control and stimulus control, which is associated with operant and classical conditioning, represent opposite processes (internal vs external or environmental, respectively) that compete over the control of an individual's elicited behaviors; in particular, inhibitory control is necessary for overriding stimulus-driven behavioral responses (stimulus control of behavior). The prefrontal cortex is necessary but not solely sufficient for executive functions; for example, the caudate nucleus and subthalamic nucleus also have a role in mediating inhibitory control.


title: Executive functions

text: Cognitive control is impaired in addiction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, and a number of other central nervous system disorders. Stimulus-driven behavioral responses that are associated with a particular rewarding stimulus tend to dominate one's behavior in an addiction.


title: Executive functions

text: Historically, the executive functions have been seen as regulated by the prefrontal regions of the frontal lobes, but it is still a matter of ongoing debate if that really is the case. Even though articles on prefrontal lobe lesions commonly refer to disturbances of executive functions and vice versa, a review found indications for the sensitivity but not for the specificity of executive function measures to frontal lobe functioning. This means that both frontal and non-frontal brain regions are necessary for intact executive functions. Probably the frontal lobes need to participate in basically all of the executive functions, but they are not the only brain structure involved.


title: Executive functions

text: Neuroimaging and lesion studies have identified the functions which are most often associated with the particular regions of the prefrontal cortex and associated areas.


title: Executive functions

text: Furthermore, in their review, Alvarez and Emory state that: "The frontal lobes have multiple connections to cortical, subcortical and brain stem sites. The basis of 'higher-level' cognitive functions such as inhibition, flexibility of thinking, problem solving, planning, impulse control, concept formation, abstract thinking, and creativity often arise from much simpler, 'lower-level' forms of cognition and behavior. Thus, the concept of executive function must be broad enough to include anatomical structures that represent a diverse and diffuse portion of the central nervous system."


title: Executive functions

text: The cerebellum also appears to be involved in mediating certain executive functions, as do the ventral tegmental area and the substantia nigra.


title: Executive functions

text: The executive system is thought to be heavily involved in handling novel situations outside the domain of some of our 'automatic' psychological processes that could be explained by the reproduction of learned schemas or set behaviors. Psychologists Don Norman and Tim Shallice have outlined five types of situations in which routine activation of behavior would not be sufficient for optimal performance:


title: Executive functions

text: A "prepotent response" is a response for which immediate reinforcement (positive or negative) is available or has been previously associated with that response.


title: Executive functions

text: Executive functions are often invoked when it is necessary to override prepotent responses that might otherwise be automatically elicited by stimuli in the external environment. For example, on being presented with a potentially rewarding stimulus, such as a tasty piece of chocolate cake, a person might have the automatic response to take a bite. However, where such behavior conflicts with internal plans (such as having decided not to eat chocolate cake while on a diet), the executive functions might be engaged to inhibit that response.


title: Executive functions

text: Although suppression of these prepotent responses is ordinarily considered adaptive, problems for the development of the individual and the culture arise when feelings of right and wrong are overridden by cultural expectations or when creative impulses are overridden by executive inhibitions.


title: Executive functions

text: Although research into the executive functions and their neural basis has increased markedly over recent years, the theoretical framework in which it is situated is not new. In the 1940s, the British psychologist Donald Broadbent drew a distinction between "automatic" and "controlled" processes (a distinction characterized more fully by Shiffrin and Schneider in 1977), and introduced the notion of selective attention, to which executive functions are closely allied. In 1975, the US psychologist Michael Posner used the term "cognitive control" in his book chapter entitled "Attention and cognitive control".


title: Executive functions

text: The work of influential researchers such as Michael Posner, Joaquin Fuster, Tim Shallice, and their colleagues in the 1980s (and later Trevor Robbins, Bob Knight, Don Stuss, and others) laid much of the groundwork for recent research into executive functions. For example, Posner proposed that there is a separate "executive" branch of the attentional system, which is responsible for focusing attention on selected aspects of the environment. The British neuropsychologist Tim Shallice similarly suggested that attention is regulated by a "supervisory system", which can override automatic responses in favour of scheduling behaviour on the basis of plans or intentions. Throughout this period, a consensus emerged that this control system is housed in the most anterior portion of the brain, the prefrontal cortex (PFC).


title: Executive functions

text: Psychologist Alan Baddeley had proposed a similar system as part of his model of working memory and argued that there must be a component (which he named the "central executive") that allows information to be manipulated in short-term memory (for example, when doing mental arithmetic).


title: Executive functions

text: The executive functions are among the last mental functions to reach maturity. This is due to the delayed maturation of the prefrontal cortex, which is not completely myelinated until well into a person's third decade of life. Development of executive functions tends to occur in spurts, when new skills, strategies, and forms of awareness emerge. These spurts are thought to reflect maturational events in the frontal areas of the brain. Attentional control appears to emerge in infancy and develop rapidly in early childhood. Cognitive flexibility, goal setting, and information processing usually develop rapidly during ages 7–9 and mature by age 12. Executive control typically emerges shortly after a transition period at the beginning of adolescence. It is not yet clear whether there is a single sequence of stages in which executive functions appear, or whether different environments and early life experiences can lead people to develop them in different sequences.


title: Executive functions

text: Inhibitory control and working memory act as basic executive functions that make it possible for more complex executive functions like problem-solving to develop. Inhibitory control and working memory are among the earliest executive functions to appear, with initial signs observed in infants, 7 to 12-months old. Then in the preschool years, children display a spurt in performance on tasks of inhibition and working memory, usually between the ages of 3 to 5 years. Also during this time, cognitive flexibility, goal-directed behavior, and planning begin to develop. Nevertheless, preschool children do not have fully mature executive functions and continue to make errors related to these emerging abilities – often not due to the absence of the abilities, but rather because they lack the awareness to know when and how to use particular strategies in particular contexts.


title: Executive functions

text: Preadolescent children continue to exhibit certain growth spurts in executive functions, suggesting that this development does not necessarily occur in a linear manner, along with the preliminary maturing of particular functions as well. During preadolescence, children display major increases in verbal working memory; goal-directed behavior (with a potential spurt around 12 years of age); response inhibition and selective attention; and strategic planning and organizational skills. Additionally, between the ages of 8 to 10, cognitive flexibility in particular begins to match adult levels. However, similar to patterns in childhood development, executive functioning in preadolescents is limited because they do not reliably apply these executive functions across multiple contexts as a result of ongoing development of inhibitory control.


title: Executive functions

text: Many executive functions may begin in childhood and preadolescence, such as inhibitory control. Yet, it is during adolescence when the different brain systems become better integrated. At this time, youth implement executive functions, such as inhibitory control, more efficiently and effectively and improve throughout this time period. Just as inhibitory control emerges in childhood and improves over time, planning and goal-directed behavior also demonstrate an extended time course with ongoing growth over adolescence. Likewise, functions such as attentional control, with a potential spurt at age 15, along with working memory, continue developing at this stage.


title: Executive functions

text: The major change that occurs in the brain in adulthood is the constant myelination of neurons in the prefrontal cortex. At age 20–29, executive functioning skills are at their peak, which allows people of this age to participate in some of the most challenging mental tasks. These skills begin to decline in later adulthood. Working memory and spatial span are areas where decline is most readily noted. Cognitive flexibility, however, has a late onset of impairment and does not usually start declining until around age 70 in normally functioning adults. Impaired executive functioning has been found to be the best predictor of functional decline in the elderly.


title: Executive functions

text: Aside from facilitatory or amplificatory mechanisms of control, many authors have argued for inhibitory mechanisms in the domain of response control, memory, selective attention, theory of mind, emotion regulation, as well as social emotions such as empathy. A recent review on this topic argues that active inhibition is a valid concept in some domains of psychology/cognitive control.


title: Executive functions

text: One influential model is Baddeley's multicomponent model of working memory, which is composed of a central executive system that regulates three subsystems: the phonological loop, which maintains verbal information; the visuospatial sketchpad, which maintains visual and spatial information; and the more recently developed episodic buffer that integrates short-term and long-term memory, holding and manipulating a limited amount of information from multiple domains in temporal and spatially sequenced episodes.


title: Executive functions

text: Researchers have found significant positive effects of biofeedback-enhanced relaxation on memory and inhibition in children. Biofeedback is a mind-body tool where people can learn to control and regulate their body to improve and control their executive functioning skills. To measure one's processes, researchers use their heart rate and or respiratory rates. Biofeedback-relaxation includes music therapy, art, and other mindfulness activities.


title: Executive functions

text: Executive functioning skills are important for many reasons, including children's academic success and social emotional development. According to the study "The Efficacy of Different Interventions to Foster Children's Executive Function Skills: A Series of Meta-Analyses", researchers found that it is possible to train executive functioning skills. Researchers conducted a meta-analytic study that looked at the combined effects of prior studies in order to find the overarching effectiveness of different interventions that promote the development of executive functioning skills in children. The interventions included computerized and non-computerized training, physical exercise, art, and mindfulness exercises. However, researchers could not conclude that art activities or physical activities could improve executive functioning skills.


title: Executive functions

text: Another conceptual model is the supervisory attentional system (SAS). In this model, contention scheduling is the process where an individual's well-established schemas automatically respond to routine situations while executive functions are used when faced with novel situations. In these new situations, attentional control will be a crucial element to help generate new schema, implement these schema, and then assess their accuracy.


title: Executive functions

text: Russell Barkley proposed a widely known model of executive functioning that is based on self-regulation. Primarily derived from work examining behavioral inhibition, it views executive functions as composed of four main abilities. One element is working memory that allows individuals to resist interfering information. A second component is the management of emotional responses in order to achieve goal-directed behaviors. Thirdly, internalization of self-directed speech is used to control and sustain rule-governed behavior and to generate plans for problem-solving. Lastly, information is analyzed and synthesized into new behavioral responses to meet one's goals. Changing one's behavioral response to meet a new goal or modify an objective is a higher level skill that requires a fusion of executive functions including self-regulation, and accessing prior knowledge and experiences.


title: Executive functions

text: According to this model, the executive system of the human brain provides for the cross-temporal organization of behavior towards goals and the future and coordinates actions and strategies for everyday goal-directed tasks. Essentially, this system permits humans to self-regulate their behavior so as to sustain action and problem-solving toward goals specifically and the future more generally. Thus, executive function deficits pose serious problems for a person's ability to engage in self-regulation over time to attain their goals and anticipate and prepare for the future.


title: Executive functions

text: Teaching children self-regulation strategies is a way to improve their inhibitory control and their cognitive flexibility. These skills allow children to manage their emotional responses. These interventions include teaching children executive function-related skills that provide the steps necessary to implement them during classroom activities and educating children on how to plan their actions before acting upon them. Executive functioning skills are how the brain plans and reacts to situations. Offering new self-regulation strategies allow children to improve their executive functioning skills by practicing something new. It is also concluded that mindfulness practices are shown to be a significantly effective intervention for children to self-regulate. This includes biofeedback-enhanced relaxation. These strategies support the growth of children's executive functioning skills.


title: Executive functions

text: Yet another model of executive functions is a problem-solving framework where executive functions are considered a macroconstruct composed of subfunctions working in different phases to (a) represent a problem, (b) plan for a solution by selecting and ordering strategies, (c) maintain the strategies in short-term memory in order to perform them by certain rules, and then (d) evaluate the results with error detection and error correction.


title: Executive functions

text: One of the most widespread conceptual models on executive functions is Lezak's model. This framework proposes four broad domains of volition, planning, purposive action, and effective performance as working together to accomplish global executive functioning needs. While this model may broadly appeal to clinicians and researchers to help identify and assess certain executive functioning components, it lacks a distinct theoretical basis and relatively few attempts at validation.


title: Executive functions

text: In 2001, Earl Miller and Jonathan Cohen published their article "An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function", in which they argue that cognitive control is the primary function of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), and that control is implemented by increasing the gain of sensory or motor neurons that are engaged by task- or goal-relevant elements of the external environment. In a key paragraph, they argue:


title: Executive functions

text: Miller and Cohen draw explicitly upon an earlier theory of visual attention that conceptualises perception of visual scenes in terms of competition among multiple representations – such as colors, individuals, or objects. Selective visual attention acts to 'bias' this competition in favour of certain selected features or representations. For example, imagine that you are waiting at a busy train station for a friend who is wearing a red coat. You are able to selectively narrow the focus of your attention to search for red objects, in the hope of identifying your friend. Desimone and Duncan argue that the brain achieves this by selectively increasing the gain of neurons responsive to the color red, such that output from these neurons is more likely to reach a downstream processing stage, and, as a consequence, to guide behaviour. According to Miller and Cohen, this selective attention mechanism is in fact just a special case of cognitive control – one in which the biasing occurs in the sensory domain. According to Miller and Cohen's model, the PFC can exert control over input (sensory) or output (response) neurons, as well as over assemblies involved in memory, or emotion. Cognitive control is mediated by reciprocal PFC connectivity with the sensory and motor cortices, and with the limbic system. Within their approach, thus, the term "cognitive control" is applied to any situation where a biasing signal is used to promote task-appropriate responding, and control thus becomes a crucial component of a wide range of psychological constructs such as selective attention, error monitoring, decision-making, memory inhibition, and response inhibition.