Evaluating the Use of Virtual Reality in Medical School Neuroanatomy Curriculum: A Nonrandomized...

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of including a 1-1.5 h virtual reality (VR) lesson in the neuroanatomy curriculum for first-year medical students. We examined post-VR knowledge of neuroanatomy as our primary outcome measured by neuroanatomy tests, and students' subjective experience of VR as our secondary outcome measured by the System Usability Scale (SUS) and a questionnaire. Neuroanatomy presents a significant challenge for students to learn due to the complexity of brain structures and their spatial relationships. VR offers an immersive platform that could aid in understanding three-dimensional (3D) structures. This study (pre-post-intervention without control) included 12 medical students enrolled in a first-year neuroanatomy course. Participants completed a neuroanatomy knowledge pre-test, then participated in a VR-based neuroanatomy lesson (intervention), followed by a neuroanatomy knowledge post-test using the same content created by the neuroanatomy course instructor. Our intervention was a VR lesson with a narrated walk-through of high-resolution 3D volumetric renderings of brain anatomy, focusing on cortical regions, subcortical structures, and major arteries. Students could pause the narration and manipulate 3D images (i.e., rotate, zoom, and bisect). Percent correct on the neuroanatomy post-test (M = 66.67%, SD = 12.85%) improved significantly from the pre-test (M = 52.08%, SD = 14.99%, p = 0.004, and d = 1.038). Student subjective experience using VR was rated below the benchmark on the SUS. Most rated their subjective experiences of the VR intervention positively (above the midpoint) on questionnaire items. Furthermore, students completed a validated measure of spatial ability (Paper Folding Test), and exploratory analysis revealed that students with lower spatial skills may benefit from the VR intervention and perform comparably to their peers who have higher spatial skills. Results indicated our VR neuroanatomy lesson may be associated with enhanced neuroanatomy knowledge among first-year medical students who have lower spatial skills. Further studies are needed to optimize the effectiveness of implementing VR in neuroanatomy education.