1,2 Higher-order EF, such as problem solving and planning, typically builds upon a combination of these three components. As a regulatory capacity, EF is central to a range of normal and

abnormal behavior particularly relevant for psychiatric illness, and has been suggested to impact psychiatric functioning Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical through involvement in, and overlap with, emotional regulation (ER) processes. Indeed, both EF and ER deficits are pervasive throughout psychiatric disorders, to varying degrees of severity and specificity, and hence may be of significant transdiagnostic importance. There is evidence that the neural circuitry that supports EF and ER is largely overlapping. In this review we will focus specifically on the contribution of circuit abnormalities relevant to Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical EF and ER to psychiatric disorders. We restrict our focus to patients aged 60 and below to insure that the relationship of cognitive deficits to psychiatric disorders is not primarily due to age-related changes in cognition. We will begin with

an overview of the neural systems underlying EF and ER, followed by a description of how deficits in these systems, or their behavioral output, subserve a range Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of psychiatric disorders. Finally, we will examine the relationship between EF and ER capacities and current treatments, as well as avenues for Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical novel treatments through a neurobiological understanding of EF and ER. Neural systems supporting

EF and ER Cognitive regulation of behavior and emotions is supported by several circuits in the PFC. While the PFC is typically not necessary for the learning or performance of simple tasks, when task demands change, the PFC is required for proper adjustments Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in behavior to maintain accuracy and goal-directed behavior. This capacity of the PFC is conserved across mammalian species.3-5 Viewed this Behavioral and Brain Sciences way, the PFC is CFTR assay responsible for maintaining an internal representation of current goals and modulating activity in brain regions responsible for perception or action in order to flexibly achieve these goals. In order to accomplish this, the PFC must be able to maintain a representation of goals in the face of distraction, update these representations as new information is received through multiple sensory modalities, and provide a feedback signal that can select the neural pathways appropriate for the current task context.6 Within this broad capacity for EF, several more specific subgroupings of functions are possible, commonly considered to be inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility.