Are neuroanatomy multimedia resources effective in improving medical students' understanding of structural and functional neuroanatomy? A systematic review

Abstract

Neuroanatomy education has evolved and improved over the years, driven by advances in technology that have led to the development of innovative interactive digital and immersive learning resources. While neuroanatomy educators have been keeping pace with and harnessing these technology advances, many medical students still struggle to apply their basic neuroanatomy knowledge in a clinical context. Furthermore, the effectiveness of multimedia resources in improving medical students' understanding of structural and functional neuroanatomy has received limited attention. A systematic review was conducted to document neuroanatomy multimedia resources that were designed for pre-clinical medical students and assessed their effectiveness in improving medical students' understanding of structural and functional neuroanatomy. Twenty-nine articles were eligible to address the study objective and were appraised according to PRISMA-P guidelines. This review concluded that neuroanatomy multimedia resources are primarily used as supplementary learning tools. However, due to a lack of robust evidence, no definitive conclusions can be made about their effectiveness in enhancing students' understanding of neuroanatomy. Nevertheless, this systematic review found that most neuroanatomy multimedia resources are effective in supporting students' understanding of structural neuroanatomy but less so for functional and clinical neuroanatomy. Additionally, static multimedia elements were more prevalent than dynamic ones. Moving forward, the thoughtful and informed use of multimedia elements could help establish resources that better integrate structural and functional neuroanatomy with their clinical and real-life applications, ultimately bridging the gap between neuroanatomy and clinical neurology.