Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41077624›Full record

ArticleAnatomical sciences education2025

Engagement and cognitive load of upper-year medical trainees during mixed reality-enhanced dissection.

Geoffroy P J C Noel, Isabella Xiao, Maher Chaouachi, Alexandru Ilie, Jeremy O'Brien, Sean C McWatt

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Anatomical sciences education, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Geoffroy P J C NoelDepartment of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2192-7756
Isabella XiaoDepartment of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Maher ChaouachiDepartment of Educational and Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Alexandru IlieDepartment of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Jeremy O'BrienDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Sean C McWattInstitute of Health Sciences Education, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2958-1756

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mixed reality (MR) offers a way to visualize and manipulate complex digital objects in three dimensions, which is particularly beneficial for human anatomy. However, implementing MR effectively requires a deep understanding of its effects on cognitive processes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate cognitive markers of students' engagement and cognitive load while they used MR technology to overlay donor-specific diagnostic imaging onto the corresponding body donors in a fourth-year medical elective course. During two separate dissection sessions, each participant (n = 12) used the imaging on (1) a head-mounted Microsoft HoloLens and (2) an Apple iPad to examine the underlying anatomy of their body donor before beginning dissection. During each activity, participants wore portable five-lead electroencephalographic (EEG) devices to collect cognitive processing data. Separate indexes were calculated from those data to quantify engagement (engagement index; EI) and cognitive load (theta-alpha ratio; TAR), which were compared between HoloLens and iPad usage. Mean EI calculated from EEG data collected while using the HoloLens (0.499 ± 0.038) was significantly higher than the mean EI while using an iPad (0.297 ± 0.037; p = 0.002). Conversely, the mean TAR calculated from EEG data collected while using the HoloLens (1.508 ± 0.047) was significantly lower than that collected while using an iPad (1.813 ± 0.071; p = 0.012). These results indicate that the use of HoloLens to superimpose radiographic images onto a human body donor during dissection is significantly more engaging and requires less cognitive effort than the same task on an iPad.

Indexed as

AnatomyAugmented RealityCognitionDissectionEducation, Medical, UndergraduateStudents, MedicalAdultElectroencephalographyFemaleHumansImaging, Three-DimensionalMaleYoung Adultaugmented realitycognitive loadelectroencephalographyengagementextended realitymedical educationmedical imagingmixed reality

Identifiers

PMID41077624
PMCPMC12592906

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.