The Effect of Paaryaad Perceptual-Motor Exercises on Working Memory of Children with Specific Learning Disorder

Background and Purpose: One of the basic strategies to reduce the working memory problems in children with specific learning disorder is goal-oriented physical activity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Paaryaad perceptual-motor exercises on the working memory of children with specific learning disorder. It was an applied semi-experimental study with pretest-posttest control group design. In this study, twenty-four 7-9-year-old boys with specific learning disorder in Mashhad were selected in the academic year of 2017-2018 and assigned randomly to either the experimental or the control group. The experimental group was subjected to twenty 30-minute sessions of Paaryaad perceptual-motor exercises, repeated five days per week. During this period, the control group performed its routine activities. Changes in the working memory of the subjects were measured by N-back test before and after the intervention. Findings of the study showed that Paaryaad perceptual-motor exercises improved the working memory of the experimental group. All these changes were significant in comparison to the control group (P <0.05). Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that Paaryaad perceptual-motor exercises, affecting the brain areas involved in the working memory, can improve this type of memory in children with specific learning disorder.