Like all forms of behavior, executive functions result from the activity of the entire brain, but these abilities have been linked more specifically to the functions of the frontal lobes. Years of brain research have shown that the most severe and extensive disorders of executive functioning occur in patients with specific disorders of a system involving the frontal lobe and its extensive connections to lower centers of the brain, including the thalamus and basal ganglia.

In terms of epilepsy, patients whose seizures arise from this brain system are more likely to have problems with executive functions than patients whose seizures arise elsewhere. Examples include patients whose seizures are caused by a tumor in the frontal lobe or by a developmental disorder causing the formation of abnormal tissue in that area. Patients with epilepsy resulting from head injury also are prone to having this kind of difficulty.

Some people use the term "frontal lobe functions" to describe the executive functions. This term is misleading because individuals who have disturbances of other parts of the brain also can exhibit problems of this nature. Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy involving certain structures, including the hippocampus, are particularly likely to exhibit behaviors that are similar to those seen in patients with frontal lobe disorders.