"You've mastered productivity. Your to-do lists are pristine, your calendar is organized, and your focus is sharp. Yet something feels off, like you're running efficiently toward... what exactly? If this resonates, modern neuroscience has discovered something surprising: Your brain's executive function does far more than manage tasks. It determines whether you live what researchers call a "full life" or drift through an "empty" one."
"But growing research suggests that executive function does something far more than help us check off tasks. In a 2021 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, researchers examined executive function not just as cognitive abilities, but as the brain system that helps us pursue "eudaimonic well-being," a concept rooted in ancient Greek philosophy emphasizing meaning, growth, and living according to our deepest values, rather than just seeking pleasure."
Executive function comprises working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control and functions as the brain system that enables pursuit of eudaimonic well-being—meaning, growth, and living according to core values. Stronger executive functioning supports delaying immediate gratification to serve higher purposes, making strategic decisions aligned with values, and considering multiple paths to flourishing. Prioritizing meaning over pleasure enhances well-being for both; prioritizing pleasure over meaning diminishes both. Clinical evidence shows prefrontal cortex lesions can impair moral emotions while leaving logical reasoning intact. Executive control therefore shapes whether daily efforts accumulate into meaningful, long-term flourishing or an empty, aimless trajectory.
Read at Psychology Today
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