Comparative discourse analysis of logical memory recall in normal elderly from rural and urban areas.

This study examined the nature of errors in prose recall made in normal aging from different cultural backgrounds: rural and urban areas.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the nature of errors in prose recall made in normal aging from different cultural backgrounds.

Methods: We evaluated neurologically normal elderly divided into two groups: 12 subjects resident in a rural area in Central Brazil (group 1, called "Interior") and 10 subjects from a metropolitan area in a big city in Central Brazil (group 2, called "Metropolis"). Responses by 22 nondemented older adults to the Logical Memory subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale were examined in a propositional analysis.

Results: Healthy older adults from rural areas (interior group) showed good immediate recalls, but had deficits in retention over a delay. Subjects from urban areas made errors of omission, not commission, at immediate recall.

Conclusion: These errors probably reflect difficulty with attentional control rather than memory per se. There are differences in the performance of the elderly when considering different levels of education for neuropsychological tests associated with immediate recalls (but not with delayed recall), suggesting that working memory systems may be more impacted by years of schooling than the coding memory system.