فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Background: Working memory is a core component of cognitive processing that supports complex language abilities, including narrative discourse. Age-related changes in working memory may affect older adults’ ability to organize and produce coherent and cohesive narratives. Objectives: This study examined the association between working memory and discourse in healthy older adults, focusing on coherence, cohesion, syntactic complexity, and verbal output errors. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study, conducted from October to December 2023, 84 cognitively healthy older adults (44 females, 40 males) were recruited by convenience sampling from four nursing homes in Tehran. Working memory was assessed using the Wechsler Memory Scale and the N-back task. Narrative discourse was evaluated using the Persian Narrative Discourse Test and scored for coherence, cohesion, syntactic complexity, and verbal output errors. Statistical analyses were performed in SPSS 26, with significance set at P < 0.01. Results: Participants with formal education scored significantly higher on both working memory assessments (P = 0.001) and on measures of syntactic complexity, while committing fewer verbal errors (P = 0.003); however, education level showed no significant effect on discourse cohesion (P = 0.199) or coherence (P = 0.294). Pearson correlation analyses revealed strong positive associations between Wechsler working memory scores and discourse features, including coherence, cohesion, and syntactic complexity (P < 0.001). Conversely, working memory scores were significantly negatively correlated with verbal output errors (P = 0.001). Conclusions: This study highlights a direct relationship between working memory and narrative discourse abilities. The results support the hypothesis that stronger working memory is likely to enhance narrative discourse production in older adults.