Computer-aided learning (CAL) is used increasingly to teach anatomy in post-secondary programs. Studies show that augmentation of traditional cadaver dissection and model examination by CAL can be associated with positive student learning outcomes. In order to reduce costs associated with the purchase of skeletons and models and to encourage study…

Controversy exists over the role of autoantibodies to central nervous system antigens in autism and Tourette Syndrome. We investigated plasma autoantibody titers to glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in children with classic onset (33) and regressive onset (26) autism, controls (25, healthy age- and gender-matched) and individuals with…

In 2 experiments, participants learned bone anatomy by using a handheld controller to rotate an on-screen 3-dimensional bone model. The on-screen bone either included orientation references, which consisted of visible lines marking its axes (orientation reference condition), or did not include such references (no-orientation reference condition).…

In today's high tech world, one hardly expects to see the original chalkboard or blackboard utilized in research, teaching, or scientific communication, but having spent an equal number of years doing both art and biology and dabbling in computer graphics, the author has found the simple technology of the chalkboard and chalk to have incredible…

Traditional dissection teaching is being reduced in a number of medical schools, particularly in the United Kingdom. In response to this, 12 medical students from Warwick University, UK, traveled to the Island of Grenada for an intensive extracurricular dissection course at St. George's University. This course not only benefited the host…

A simple dissection guide for the conduction system of the human heart is shown. The atrioventricular (AV) node, AV bundle, and right bundle branch were identified in a formaldehyde-fixed human heart. The sinu-atrial (SA) node could not be found, but the region in which SA node was contained was identified using the SA nodal artery. Gross…

We incorporated clay modeling into gross anatomy and neuro-anatomy courses to help students understand cross-sectional anatomy. By making clay models, cutting them and comparing cut surfaces to CT and MR images, students learned how cross-sectional two-dimensional images were created from three-dimensional structure of human organs. Most students…

In two studies with a total of 324 participants, dentistry students were assessed on psychometric measures of spatial ability, reasoning ability, and on new measures of the ability to infer the appearance of a cross-section of a three-dimensional (3-D) object. We examined how these abilities and skills predict success in dental education programs,…

After Phnom Penh was liberated from the Khmer Rouge in 1979, health science education in Cambodia had to be completely rebuilt. In this article, the authors report the results of a teaching collaboration between the University of Melbourne (Australia), the International University (Cambodia), and the University of Health Sciences (Cambodia). The…

Mitochondrial respiratory chain disorders are a group of genetically and clinically heterogeneous disorders caused by the biochemical complexity of mitochondrial respiration and the fact that two genomes, one mitochondrial and one nuclear, encode the components of the respiratory chain. These disorders can manifest at birth or present later in…

Anatomy has historically been a cornerstone in medical education regardless of nation or specialty. Until recently, dissection and didactic lectures were its sole pedagogy. Teaching methodology has been revolutionized with more reliance on models, imaging, simulation, and the Internet to further consolidate and enhance the learning experience.…

It has long been appreciated that adequate nutrition is required for proper immune function and it is now recognized that dietary components contribute to modulation of immune cells, subsequently impacting the whole body's response during an immune challenge. Macrophage activation plays a critical role in the immune system and directs the…

Previous studies using Electropalatography (EPG) have shown that individuals with speech disorders sometimes produce articulation errors that affect bilabial targets, but currently there is limited normative data available. In this study, EPG and acoustic data were recorded during complex word final sps clusters spoken by 20 normal adults. A total…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using audience response systems (ARS) on student learning outcomes and learning processes, when the instructional strategy of using sequentially challenging questions and collaborative discussions were held constant across both treatment and control conditions. A quasi-experimental AB…

Previous studies have shown that anatomy students who complete oral laboratory presentations believe they understand the material better and retain it longer than they otherwise would if they only took examinations on the material; however, we have found no studies that empirically test such outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess the…