MoCA Executive Functioning 3 Flashcards
6 cards from real MOCA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 MoCA Executive Functioning 3 flashcards as text
If a patient on the Trail Making B task connects 1-A-2-B-3-D (skipping C) but then self-corrects, how is this scored?
Answer: 1 point — prompt self-correction is acceptable
On the MoCA, the examiner is instructed to point out errors immediately and allow the patient to self-correct without penalty, as long as the correction is made promptly. A successful self-correction does not automatically fail the trial.
Which MoCA tasks fall under the Visuospatial/Executive domain?
Answer: Trail Making B, cube copy, and clock drawing
The Visuospatial/Executive domain includes the Trail Making B task, the cube copy task, and the clock drawing task — all requiring spatial organization and/or executive planning.
What does impaired performance on the MoCA executive tasks (Trail Making B, fluency) indicate clinically?
Answer: Prefrontal-subcortical circuit dysfunction, seen in vascular or Parkinson's-related dementia
Poor executive functioning on the MoCA suggests dysfunction of prefrontal-subcortical circuits. This is common in vascular dementia, Parkinson's disease, and frontal lobe disorders.
A patient earns 0 on Trail Making B, 0 on clock drawing, and 0 on letter fluency. What does this pattern suggest?
Answer: Broad executive dysfunction across multiple components
Failure across all three executive domain tasks (Trail Making B, clock, fluency) indicates a broad executive impairment affecting cognitive flexibility, planning, and generative thinking.
In the MoCA cube copy task, what does the examiner ask the patient to do?
Answer: Copy the provided three-dimensional cube drawing
The patient is asked to copy a line drawing of a three-dimensional cube. The copy must be three-dimensional and the lines roughly parallel and equal in length to earn 1 point.
Why does the MoCA include a phonemic fluency task (letter F) in the executive section rather than a semantic fluency task (e.g., animal names)?
Answer: Phonemic fluency more selectively taps frontal executive search strategies
Phonemic fluency (letter F) relies more heavily on executive/frontal strategies for organized search, while semantic fluency (animal names) also reflects temporal lobe semantic memory. The MoCA emphasizes the executive component.