Full PreFrontal: Exposing the Mysteries of Executive Function
Welcome to the podcast,
Full PreFrontal: Exposing the Mysteries of Executive Function hosted by Sucheta Kamath.
Executive Function is a core set of cognitive skills that allow humans to focus attention, block out distractions, plan ahead, stay engaged, temper emotions, and think flexibly while creatively solving problems to fulfill personal and social goals. The prefrontal cortex region of the brain, which governs Executive Function, is often compared to an air traffic control system at a busy airport. Much like an air traffic controller guides planes on different flight paths in the direction that each needs to go, the prefrontal cortex intercepts thoughts and impulses in order to direct them towards situationally appropriate and productive outcomes that serve the need of the future self.
Significant research in the field suggests that developing strong Executive Function is critical for school-aged children and remains one of the most reliable predictors of overall success, shown to have profound life-long implications beyond the formal years of learning. On this podcast, host Sucheta Kamath will converse with neuroscientists, social psychologists, learning experts, and thought leaders who will illustrate how Executive Function is inextricably linked with mental health, physical health, school readiness, job success, marital relationships, and much more.
On the path of self-development, we all experience a constant struggle between trying to optimize our talent and effort while still facing difficulty in mobilizing the inner tools and strategies that can lead us in the right direction. Tune in to
Full PreFrontal
to figure out how best to manage your thoughts, habits, and attitudes to enhance your self-awareness and future thinking and to achieve your best self.
Sucheta Kamath is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed a personalized digital learning curriculum/tool (ExQ®) that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence. Outside of her business, Sucheta previously served as President of the Georgia Speech-Language-Hearing Association, where she started a free Social-Communication and Executive Function Training program for inner-city men afflicted with addiction and homelessness—a program she continues to oversee as a coach and a trainer today. She is also a long-time meditator and is currently working on her Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification. A firm believer in the “Pause, Reflect, and then Respond” philosophy, Sucheta hopes to spread the word on how every person can reach higher levels of self-awareness and achieve lasting growth of their Executive Function.
- Update frequency
- every 10 days
- Average duration
- 48 minutes
- Episodes
- 210
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
Ep. 150: Big Picture 8 – “MacGyvering” Your Way to Human Ingenuity
A ticking bomb, an empty room with a hanger from the dry-cleaners, a radiator, two in captivity with their hands tied behind their backs, and that’s it. With less than 60 seconds left o…
Ep. 149: Elizabeth Green - Care to Teach?
In the 1830s, Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet’s method of teaching reading to deaf children was evolutionary and became inviting enough that the then secretary of education, Horace Munn,…
Ep. 148: Pedro A. Noguera, PhD - Building New Ladders of Opportunity Beyond Chance and Circumstance
America’s struggle with equity was unveiled in a 2011 Department of Education study which showed that 45% of high-poverty schools received less state and local funding than what was ty…
Ep. 147: Phyllis Fagell - No Straight Line from 6th Grade to Success
Keeping up with the pace, load, and challenge of learning requires emotional and self-management skills – best described as Executive Function. However, when these skills are either del…
Ep. 146: Leila L. Hartley, PhD, CCC-SLP - Building a Better Brain
Even though studies after studies show that more than 75% of job success is determined by soft skills ,which in business refers to effective communication, professionalism and work ethi…
Ep. 145: Ross W. Greene, Ph.D - Unlocking the Barriers for a Disruptive Child
A difficult to teach child slows down the learning for others and accentuates the burden of teaching a group of diverse learners that often looms heavily on the teacher. What if disrup…
Ep. 144: Professor Tony Attwood - The Asperger’s Syndrome
What do wigs, cookie jars, pizza dough, supermarket flyers, unpaid invoices, airplane menus, and a mummified human foot have in common? Those are some of the Andy Stuff found amongst 64…
Ep. 143: Esther Wojcicki - The Secret to Raising Successful People
The true meaning of empowering children is to help them claim the rights to their own life so that they can lead with a sense of confidence, clarity, and courage. The key is to trust c…
Ep. 142: Dr. Shimi Kang - The Dolphin Parent
In the increasingly complex world, raising children to become adaptable, communicative, open, creative, and self-reliant thinkers is a tall order. As the raging pandemic is taking its t…
Ep. 141: Maggie Jackson - The Attention Renaissance
What is limited, valuable, and scarce? Attention. As society as a whole tries to navigate the new terrain where attention is the commodity supporting a large part of the economy, it is …
Ep. 140: Lynn Miner-Rosen, M.Ed, ACC - College: A Job Before the Job
Its no joke, adulting is hard. To adult is to do all the things that grown-ups regularly do because they have to including finding a job, keeping it, living independently, paying bills,…
Ep. 139: Elizabeth Sautter MA, CCC-SLP - Know Thy ‘Emotional’ Self
The most basic human experience is to be able to communicate; express thoughts and ideas clearly and meaningfully while being fully understood. Most of us are unaware of the nature of t…
Ep. 138: Tal Ben-Shahar - How to Not Be So Perfect
Yogi Berra once said, “If the world was perfect, it wouldn’t be.” High achievers often bring perfection in their work; however, perfectionism can impede ongoing high achievement. The di…
Ep. 137: David Yeager - The Growth Mindset
“The only thing that could impede me was me“ are the words spoken by Amada Gorman, the first ever Youth Poet Laureate. Amanda for many years suffered from a speech impediment and an au…
Ep. 136: Holiday Rewind 2: 10 Takeaways from 100 Conversations on the Science of Learning
Randomly scattered stars light up the night sky, but it is human inventiveness and imagination that has connected these cosmic dots into the constellations we know so well. As the podca…
Ep. 135: Holiday Rewind 1: Suvrat Bhargave, MD – You’re More Than What You Feel
This is a repeat of episode 101 brought back as one of my favorite episode.
Uncertainly, unceasing demands, and all around unrest can provoke the feelings of restlessness, a state of irr…
Ep. 134: Edward "Ned" Hallowell, M.D. - ADHD: Marvelous, Magical, and Manageable
If you come across a Wall Street trader, an ER physician, a trial lawyer, a sky-diving instructor, a trapeze artist, or a stand-up comedian, more than likely there is a race-car brain t…
Ep. 133: Dr. Kelly Mahler - Interoception & Executive Function
Our body is a screen onto which our inner experiences are frequently projected. Authors, through their writings, vividly illustrate the imprint of the mind onto the body; for example, C…
Ep. 132: George McCloskey, Ph.D. - Evolution of System 2
Nobel prize winner behavioral economist, Daniel Kahneman's remarkable work brought the concepts of System 1 and System 2 into the mainstream. Contrary to the conventional wisdom which a…
Ep. 131: George McCloskey, Ph.D. - Self-Regulate to Self-Realize
In her book Mirror: The History, author Sabine Melchoir-Bonnet tracks the curious journey of a tiny reflective glass once thought to be the most fascinating invention which over time ev…