Cranial nerve clock. Part 1. A declarative memory paradigm.
OBJECTIVE
The authors performed this study to compare a declarative memory paradigm developed to help teach medical students about the cranial nerves with a traditional text-based approach.


METHODS
The authors designed a clock-based paradigm to help medical students learn about the cranial nerves. To enhance memorization and related brain activation, the paradigm uses visual, spatial, and word associations in the context of an analog clock face. Twenty-one undergraduate students were randomly divided into two groups. Group T viewed traditional text slides, and group C viewed text slides followed by the corresponding cranial clock slides. Subjects were tested before and after these sessions.


RESULTS
Group C performed significantly better than group T in learning the names of the cranial nerves and their correct order (P < .011). Recall of name, number, and function was better for 11 of 12 cranial nerves, with statistical significance reached for nerves III (P = .005), V (P = .04), and X (P = .03).


CONCLUSIONS
Alternative teaching strategies may help improve declarative memory.
Weiss
K L
KL
Department of Radiology, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor 48109-0030, USA.
Eldevik
P
P
Bieliauskas
L
L
Steinberg
B
B
Khan
A
A
Jacobsen
E
E
D003391:Cranial Nerves / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011897:Random Allocation; D013336:Students, Health Occupations; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*