Executive Function: Nature or Nurture?
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This vlog is based on this email from a parent: “I have watched so many of your videos. I am really looking forward to the next ones. My entire family watches your videos and they have helped tremendously. Perhaps you will address why some kids are born with amazing EF while others, equally as intelligent, have poor EF. My husband has poor EF and surely at his age, his brain is fully developed. Is there really hope for my child or his he genetically predisposed to have poor EF throughout his life. (Of course, the tools you teach really do help). (FYI, no diagnosis for anyone in the family). Thanks so much for your videos. I am passing along your website to everyone I can think of.” This brings up the nature vs. nurture argument for me, and this video explores this in-depth and HOW to help.
Love my work and want to give? Click here! To support me, please CLICK at the bottom to share. Click here to visit my official YouTube Channel & subscribe if you want! Thank you — Seth
Reading the transcript? Great! We’re currently uploading hundreds of transcripts so you can read them asap, but they are NOT all edited yet. This is a big process. If you notice anything wrong and want to help us, feel free to click this Google Form to share it. Thanks so much for pitching in! – Seth
Love my work and want to give? Click here! To support me, please CLICK at the bottom to share. Click here to visit my official YouTube Channel & subscribe if you want! Thank you — Seth
Reading the transcript? Great! We’re currently uploading hundreds of transcripts so you can read them asap, but they are NOT all edited yet. This is a big process. If you notice anything wrong and want to help us, feel free to click this Google Form to share it. Thanks so much for pitching in! – Seth
Video transcript:
Okay parents. What’s up in this video? I am going to talk to you about executive function. Is it nature or nurture nature or nurture nature vs. Nurture nature and nurture. Let’s explore this question people. Here we go. I have an email from Mommy and it says I’ve watched so many of your videos. Thank you so much. I’m really looking forward to next on the main Tire family watches your videos and they have helped tremendously. Perhaps you will address why some kids are born with amazing executive function While others equally as intelligent have for executive function. My husband has poor executive functioning surely at his age. His brain is fully developed. Is there really hope for my child or is he genetically predisposed to have for executive function throughout his life? Of course the tools you teach really do help FYI. No diagnosis of anyone the family. Thanks so much for your videos passing on your website that when I can think of thank you so much. I really appreciate you sharing my work. I put my heart and soul into this. Well, that is an amazing question. I have a horrible answer for you. I don’t know. Don’t worry. I’m not going to leave you with that. Are you know are some people just born with less a bad executive function for lack of a better word. We were born with good executive function. Some people xq really? Well some people don’t I don’t know. I don’t know. Why and I guess here I’m going to I’m going to unpack this for you. Don’t worry. I’m going to give you a valuable insights on this topic, but here’s the first thing that comes to mind when I think about this question doesn’t matter. That’s what I really want to know. So whenever I’m working with a family whenever I’m working with the kid is struggling with the stuff. I don’t care. My brain is very good at filtering out anything that doesn’t matter. So I’m hyper focused on what matters what is going to be able to be helpful to this kid in my brain would instantly go to that question and be like Walt doesn’t matter. And he retired look at that if I had a common cold does it matter where I got it from if I got it from a person to the post office if I got it from a person to a restaurant if I got it from a person at my house. Where did I get the common cold? It doesn’t matter. I have a cold. What can I do about it? That’s really important. However, there are times when it does matter if I find out that I have a common cold and I know where I got it from that I can use that information to help me in the future to not go to that place or be in the circumstances where I got those germs or whatever, you know, so that there are there are at times when it matters but generally speaking when I’m working with a student I’m telling you this because this when I’m filtering when I’m sitting with the family in my office and we’re getting to know the kid and I’m not asking how did this happen? Because that information doesn’t really help me out that much. now having said that the Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree except when it does so that brings on another aspect of this issue often times. I if I were to give you a more direct answer often times, I do believe and I’m not a scientist tonight and I’ve read plenty of stuff on this but I doesn’t really matter to me again. But often times I do believe that it’s genetic meaning that it is at 1 parents or another has poor executive function. Now, I’m going to see what I see her my practice. I often see a couple where both parents have exceptional executive function. Those are the parents that are truly baffled then like we just don’t get this kid. Why can’t they just do XYZ? Sometimes I get families where both parents are both executive function and they get it or they don’t get a table in to compensate for it and they don’t understand why they can’t compensate yet. Or I get a mixture where one parent has exceptional executive function in one parent doesn’t but the Apple off and doesn’t fall far far from the tree. I do find that a lot of times when I’m talking with families families will say yeah. My child is more like me than my spouse or what-have-you. So is it it it our kids predisposed? Sure probably does that information? Help me help the kid. Probably not one of them raised from will help me help you get so let’s say nature-versus-nurture. I forgot I don’t think is nature vs nurture. I don’t think of nature or nurture. I think it’s nature and nurture. Let’s say the nature aspect of it that the kid that you have a parent who struggles with executive function in stock with executive function their whole life their brains fully develop. Their brain is not going to get any better executive function. That is probably pretty likely. However, something you said and it was very important could that parent whose brain is fully developed? It says, of course the tools you teach really do help could that parent have better tools? Yes. So let’s say that the brain of the brain is plastic, but let’s just assume that the brain of a grown adult that’s just say their executive function is pretty much the way it’s going to be could they ask you better? Yes, they can execute better with better skills with better tools with better strategies with better approaches with better systems with better mindset switch to something that can be changed with better habits with better routines. So that’s what we want to focus on there. Now, let’s look at nurture so that they nature. Yeah. It’s let’s say that nature they have, you know, relatively good eggs and affection or not good executive function. Let’s say that by Nature we have that now we’re going to look at the nurture in the nurture is the things we can do something about which is what I just mentioned. So I’m going to back up a little bit in my program the way that I teach executive function the way I coach executive function. I look at three things three things that we want to work on systems mindsets habits and routines systems mindset habits and routines I lumped together. When I’m working with a student, I’m not evaluating. Where’s your brain at? You know, what? What how is your executive function in your brain? I know that the brain is developing. I know that at user to lose it that as we use our brain for certain activities are brain get better at doing those activities. So I know that as we Implement to some scientist habits and routines we can help the brain develop better that the brain will adapt a but I can’t measure neurons. I can measure what connections are made but what I can see is evidence. 6/8 weeks timeline. I’ve been working with the kid me the parents teachers were able to say wow. This kid is come a long way. This kid is able to do X Y and Z much better now. Did the brain develop at that point probably as we’ve been implementing these systems mindsets happens reviews of brain probably did develop. so nurture the first things we look at when we look at the nurture in my opinion. When we look at external factors that impact executive function in this case. The first thing we are like I said, what have those three things but the first thing I’m really going to look at is the the basics sleep nutrition exercise. If somebody is struggling with executive function and they are not sleeping. Well, or they are eating food that make you foggy or they are not exercising. Those things are going to impact executive function negatively if the kid gets restful sleep. Food that is truly nourishing the body exercise plenty of movement in the body and the body is functioning with those two things with nutrition exercise. Then egg executive function will be impacted positively. So we absolutely want to look at them in my opinion. Look at nurture in terms of sleep nutrition exercised. Those are external factors. We can impact that have an impact on Executive function and we want our kids to be able to utilize the executive function that they have particularly if they struggle with executive function. We want to quote optimize their ability to tap into the exact function that they do have. Now I talked about sleep nutrition exercise as something that’s a nurture so to speak but another thing that’s nurturer is emotional regulation anxiety depression traumas things that impact the nervous system. The more our nervous system is in an aggravated State the less we are going to be able to tap into our executive function because when the nervous system when we are in fight flight or freeze when we are anxious when we are depressed when their event ROM is that have got us on edge whether or not we are aware of it. When those things happen in the nervous system is trying to protect the human body that the person win that is happening and the nervous system is popping in and out of fight or flight or whatever. What’s happening. Is this the the prefrontal cortex the part of the brain that helps us with execution blood is being taken away from that and going to parts of the body that are going to have a fight flight or freeze. They’re going to help protect that are going to help you stay safe. So when we are in a safe a safe and social State and our nervous system is regulated, we’re able to get the most out of architecture function as well. I mentioned the nervous system. I mentioned sleep nutrition exercise. So those are for nature nurture type are those are for nurture tie things more external type things things that we can have an impact on for example, if somebody has experienced trauma, we can work with therapist. We can work with the nervous system. We can help that person to have more emotional regulation which role in the NSS enhance executive function or Empower us to at least use our executive function more optimally. So I think I will want really want to address what this question is from from the parent is asking this there wasn’t in there kid. They’re saying my kiddo struggling with executive function just like my spouse does. Is there any hope absolutely there’s a we want to do it. We can we want to dress asleep the nutrition the exercise and the nervous system first and the first or second but we want to dress as Basics. A lot of people don’t want to do that because those things are hard but it is absolutely worth never giving up on those things and always trying to grow with those things don’t give up on that. Next we’re going to work with what Seth works more with which is the system of mindsets habits and routines. So somebody struggles with executive function. We want to give them tools. We want to give them systems ways. They have to learn how to plan. I know your kid doesn’t want to plan. I know you could think they don’t need a planner they resisted. I know they don’t want to get organized. I know but they need systems of organization systems for where to focus. They need to be able to remove distractions. I need to be able to have it for themselves. They need to be able to plan they need systems. They need mine sets. The mindset is usually do this. Leave me alone. Get off my back. I can’t too hard not worth my time. But we want to learn practice different kind of those mindsets have been practiced. Those can change. We want to change Morgan abundance mindset more of an I can do this might that more about all right. I don’t necessarily feel like this, but I know I can accomplish it. I know I can figure out how to do it. I know I can get help if I need to we want to have my infant’s and then we need habits and routines habits of sleep habits of exercise habit habits of good food habits of of studying in a place where we can actually Focus that doesn’t have to straction habits of asking for help routines of bedtime routines wake-up routine. We want to work on always optimizing those things. So the answer to question it is nature and nurture the nature at particular with young people. The brain is so plastic love the more we use great systems mindset habits routines, the more we address traumas and nervous system dysregulation, the more we address sleep nutrition and exercise the more we will optimize our ability to tap into our executive function. Yes, the brain will get better. There are the brain will learn in the brain will use executive function more powerful ways, I believe and those things those external things that we can do something about we should do something about because what you’re really asking me what you’re really asking me is is my kid going to be able to figure out how to execute so that they can have a good quality of life. Yes. Regardless of whether it’s nature-nurture if we have interventions logical rational reasonable good interventions that help the child. They will be able to develop the executive function skills or the executive function the nature in the nurture, they will be able to develop better executive functions so that they can Realize their potential achieve their dreams go for their goals. Have a good future have a good Financial. I have a good relationship have a good crew have a fantastic life, which is what you’re really asking me is my kid going to be able to take action in ownership in life so that they can have a great life. Yes. I never stopped. What’s up, bro. Come right there. Sign up subscribe like this if you want. I don’t really care. If you like it. You’re going to like it. If you don’t you’re not going to but if you like this sure my stuff. I really appreciate it and put my heart and soul into this. I hope you have a fantastic day. I will see you soon.