This article explores an innovative educational approach using a metabolic board designed to enhance understanding of muscle metabolism across three endurance training zones: Z1 (light intensity), Z2 (moderate intensity), and Z3 (intense/severe intensity). The aerobic threshold marks the transition from light to moderate domains and the anaerobic…

Teachers and allied professionals change the brains of students with their instruction and interventions. Since their efforts lead to physiological changes through the brain's natural propensity for plasticity, it is perplexing that very few educators know about the brain, or how their actions influence brain development in the children they…

This article details a 'puzzling' teaching and learning method to engage undergraduate nursing (BSN) and exercise sciences (BSES) students in physiology or medicine Nobel Prize-winning discoveries, while reviewing course material through the "Puzzling Physiology and Nobel Laureates" (PPNL) game. The qualitative evaluations of 117…

The equilibrium potential of an ion species is a crucial concept for medical students, as it is a prerequisite to fully understanding the pathophysiology of K+ imbalances (hyperkalemia and hypokalemia) in clinical practice. However, it remains a challenging concept because current medical physiology textbooks are too simplistic and overlook…

Gross anatomy courses utilize cadaver dissection to teach identification, topography, and spatial relationships of organs. The deconstructive nature of dissection, however, focuses students' attention on the "big picture", followed by a discovery of details. This approach may be useful for many, however some students may prefer to…

Background: Education outside the classroom (EOtC) is considered beneficial to children's physical and mental health. Especially, stress resilience has been linked to nature experience. Aims: This study experimentally explored the effects of pupils' autonomy support (AUT) and physical activity (PA) on their biological stress responses and brain…

Here we demonstrate how data from the clinical pulmonary function lab can help students learn about the principle of airway-parenchymal interdependence. We examined the relationship between airway conductance (Gaw) and lung volume (thoracic gas volume, TGV) in 48 patients: 17 healthy; 20 with emphysema, expected to have reduced airway-parenchymal…

Models that illustrate renal fluid dynamics are scarce within the secondary and postsecondary landscape. This work summarizes the efforts to build a rudimentary model renal corpuscle (MRC) that can be employed in a problem-based learning exercise or demonstration to teach basic principles of renal physiology to secondary students or…

Mnemonic devices are memory aids that make it easier to recall information and are widely used by students studying anatomy and physiology. Simple musical instruments and toys can serve as mnemonic devices for students learning the functional anatomy of the larynx: balloons can help learners understand and recall how sound is produced; tuning pegs…

Math-anxious people consistently underperform in math. The most widely accepted explanation for "why" this underperformance occurs is that math-anxious people experience heightened anxiety when faced with math, and this in-the-moment anxiety interferes with performance. Surprisingly, this explanation has not been tested directly. Here,…

Tuning fork tests, particularly the Rinne and Weber tests, are fundamental in assessing hearing loss. However, medical students often struggle with key auditory physiology concepts, such as the auditory masking effect and sound lateralization. This study evaluated a simulation-based teaching method to enhance first-year medical students'…

In this study, we analyzed data of heart rate and pulse amplitude collected by undergraduate students in a physiology lab course during and after the diving reflex. On average, heart rate was reduced 21% at 15 seconds and 29% at 30 seconds during diving. Pulse amplitude generally decreased but with greater individual variation. There is no…

University-level physiology courses are considered challenging. Postsecondary instructors indicate the top three reasons that make physiology courses difficult for student are 1) the need for the learner to reason mechanistically, 2) the belief among students that memorization is equal to learning, and 3) the need to think about the physiological…

This article explores the relevance of Polyvagal Theory (PVT) to somatically-informed dance teaching methodologies. It aims to provide a neurophysiological basis for understanding the effectiveness of these teaching approaches and offer practical suggestions for how dance educators can incorporate concepts of PVT into their classroom experiences.

Therapeutic translations of the microbiome-gut-brain (MGB) axis are reconstructing the educational subject in a manner amenable to Foucauldian analysis. Yet, at the same time, under the sway of MGB research social scientists are taking a biosocial turn that threatens the integrity of Foucault's historicizing philosophical project. Meeting that…