Book excerpt: This volume has as its primary aim the examination of issues concerning executive function and frontal lobe development. While many texts have addressed these issues, this is the first to do so within a specifically developmental framework. This area of cognitive function has received increasing attention over the past decade, and it is now established that the frontal lobes, and associated executive functions, are critical for efficient functioning in daily life. It is also clear, and of particular relevance to this text, that these functions develop gradually through childhood, and then deteriorate during old age. These developmental trajectories, and the impact of any interruption to them, are the focus of this volume.