Dysexecutive syndrome (DES) consists of a group of symptoms, usually resulting from brain damage, that fall into cognitive, behavioural and emotional categories and tend to occur together. The term was introduced by Alan Baddeley to describe a common pattern of dysfunction in executive functions, such as planning, abstract thinking, flexibility and behavioural control.

SYMPTOMS

Symptoms of DES fall into three broad categories: cognitive, emotional and behavioural. Many of the symptoms can be seen as a direct result of impairment to the central executive component of working memory, which is responsible for attentional control and inhibition. Although many of the symptoms regularly co-occur, it is common to encounter patients who have several, but not all symptoms

Cognitive symptoms

Cognitive symptoms refer to a person's ability to process thoughts. Cognition primarily refers to memory, the ability to learn new information, speech, and reading comprehension. Deficits within this area cause many problems with every day life decisions. One of the main difficulties for an individual with DES is planning and reasoning. Impaired planning and reasoning affect the individual's ability to realistically assess and manage the problems of every day living. 

Emotional symptoms

The emotional symptoms that individuals with DES experience may be quite extreme and can cause extensive problems. They may have difficulty inhibiting many types of emotions such as anger, excitement, sadness, or frustration. Due to multiple impairments of cognitive functioning, there can be much more frustration when expressing certain feelings and understanding how to interpret every day situations.

CAUSES

The most frequent cause of the syndrome is brain damage to the frontal lobe. Brain damage leading to the dysexecutive pattern of symptoms can result from physical trauma such as a blow to the head or a stroke  or other internal trauma. It is important to note that frontal lobe damage is not the only cause of the syndrome. It has been shown that damage, such as lesions, in other areas of the brain may indirectly affect executive functions and lead to similar symptoms (such as ventral tegmental area, basal ganglia and thalamus). There is not one specific pattern of damage that leads to DES, as multiple affected brain structures and locations have led to the symptoms