Visual-spatial abilities enhancement and spatial anatomy learning: A systematic review

Student's visual-spatial abilities appear to be an important predictor of learning time, performance and knowledge in anatomy. The objective of this systematic review was to assess the relationship between spatial abilities enhancement and spatial learning of anatomy.

A systematic literature search of databases (MEDLINE, Embase, ERIC, Scopus and Web of Science) was undertaken using relevant keywords. The search included citations published from inception to December 31st, 2024. The transferability of spatial abilities enhancement to spatial learning of anatomy was assessed using a 2 × 2 classification of spatial skills, in which each visual-spatial task was coded in terms of both intrinsic-extrinsic and static-dynamic dimensions. A qualitative analysis of the results was performed.

The search yielded 2135 results, which narrowed down to 8 articles after application of exclusion criteria. Significant relationships between spatial abilities and the spatial learning of anatomy were observed in five studies. Among studies reporting a positive correlation between spatial abilities and spatial learning of anatomy, within-cell transfer was observed for four studies, and across-cell transfer for one study.

Enhanced spatial abilities seem to transfer mainly to similar tasks related to spatial learning of anatomy. However, the spatial abilities tests used to evaluate spatial abilities were all intrinsic × dynamic. A future study using different spatial abilities tests could evaluate if spatial abilities engaging different dimensions of spatial cognition could be related to different spatial anatomy tasks.