Effect of Rhythmic Movements on working Memory, Motor Proficiency and Writing Skills in the Students with Dysgraphia

Introduction: One of the most common abnormalities of learning is dysgraphia, which refers to a serious defect in mechanical writing skills. Children with dysgraphia may not be able to perform the actions required to write or transfer information within the hearing or vision to exercise and poorly performing in cognitive skills such as organization, attention and memory. Evidence suggests that active memory plays a crucial role in learning and performing complex cognitive tasks, including writing. In addition, regular exercise is considered as a key indicator of improving cognitive performance of individuals. Learning written skills through enhanced motor skills, which affects performance, motor schema and information processing and improves cognitive processes such as memory. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of motor exercises on active memory, writing skill and motor efficiency in children with dysgraphia. Methods: The research is a pre-test and post -test with a control group. The study population included all 3rd to 5th grade male students with a dysgraphia that had been introduced to the center of learning disability due to issues in the formal education process for the teachers in the classroom, and the specialists of the organization identified these people as having a dysgraphia. In order to performance of research, 32 male students from 3rd to 5th grade students with dysgraphia were selected through available sampling. The Minnesota handwriting skill test was then used to accurately identify students with dysgraphia (handwriting test results are also recorded as pre-test), and the Ravens color intelligence test was taken from the students (IQ above 90). They were then randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Then, each group was evaluated using Lincoln-Oseretsky for measuring motor skills and Wechsler's numerical memory test for evaluation of active memory. The exercise program included aerobic exercises, which lasted for 3 consecutive sessions each week for 12 weeks, 45 minutes per week. The training program included 5 to 10 minutes of warming, 25 minutes of aerobic exercises (step by step, step 7, rhythmic play) and 5 minutes of cool down.48 hours after the last training session in the same conditions with the control group. From all cases, the numerical memory test for active memory measurement and the Minnesota handwriting skill test were used to examine the skills of handwriting (writing) and the Linck- Ozeretsky motor efficiency test to measure motor efficiency. Results: The results confirmed the Covariance analysis was used to analyze the data (P≤0.5). The results showed that after a rhythmic exercise period, the values of motor efficiency and active memory significantly increased, the findings also showed that rhythmic exercises had a positive effect on the skills of handwriting in students with dysgraphia. On the other hand, the results showed there is a significant relationship between active memory with scores of motor skills and writing skill. The results of handwriting regression analysis in terms of memory components and the Linck-Ozeretsky motor growth components showed that about 48 percent of the handwriting changes can be explained by the memory scores and the Linck-Ozersky growth test scores. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that motor skills may improve information processing and improve active memory and improve the writing scores in children with dysgraphia due to improving motor efficiency and motor – sensitive coordination. Using these exercises improves the coordination of the eyes and hands, motion sequences, physical schemas and information processing. Learning written skills is effective and feasible by performing reinforced motor skills that enhance the performance of the child. The use of such training can enhance learning and motor efficiency, improve the writing and improve the active memory of children with dysgraphia. These findings can be explained by the underlying mechanisms of brain plasticity. The hypothesis of human brain plasticity suggests that if the less active regions involved in the learning disorder are stimulated appropriately and repeatedly, these changes will remain stable due to changes that are supposed to be made in the structure of the neurons.