Histological Reasoning: Visual Cognition in Microanatomy

该项目是一个多学科的研究，在组织学，组织的显微解剖学的实践中的认知。组织学是生物学，医学预科和医学院课程的核心课程，病理学家使用它的方法来诊断各种医学疾病。组织学的教学重点是在显微镜下识别组织。这是一项非常具有挑战性的任务，需要数年时间才能掌握。这种困难的主要原因是显微镜载玻片中的组织在外观上与整个组织有很大的不同。因此，组织学的能力需要视觉识别和推理的高水平技能的发展。本项目将通过各种实验研究，探讨获得基础组织学专业知识的当前和最佳方法。本研究的具体目标如下：1）确定显微镜载玻片中人类感知器的信息。 两项研究将为完成组织学第一年课程的个人生成使用显微镜载玻片中诊断信息的模型。2)评估显微解剖学的视觉空间理解对于显微镜载玻片中组织识别的重要性。将进行一项实验，以测试这一假设，即识别显微镜载玻片中的结构和组织的能力将直接随着人们对整个组织的显微解剖学有清晰的视觉空间理解的程度而变化。3)评估在显微镜载玻片中识别组织的切片变换的视觉空间理解的重要性。将进行一项实验来检验以下假设，即在显微镜载玻片中识别结构和组织的能力将直接随着 人们对将3D解剖结构与2D解剖结构切片相关联的转换具有清晰的视觉空间理解。这项研究的结果将导致对组织学中认知的详细理解，以及用于解释人类技术产生的图像的视觉符号系统理论的进步（例如，X射线、MRI、航空照片）。该项目有可能在本科和医学院两级发展组织学技能的方法上产生实质性的变化。学习的虚拟现实方法的研究结合组织学推理的严格研究将直接导致软件的开发，可能会显着加快技能的发展，在这个具有挑战性的重要领域。

This project is a multidisciplinary study of cognition in the practice of histology, the microanatomy of tissues. Histology is a core course in the biological, premedical, and medical school curricula, and pathologists use its methods to diagnose a variety of medical disorders. Instruction in histology centers on the recognition of tissues in microscopes. This is a very challenging task that takes years to master. Much of the basis for this difficulty is that the tissue in microscope slides differs substantially in appearance from the whole tissue. As a result, ability in histology requires the development of high level skills of visual recognition and reasoning. This project will investigate the current and optimum methods for gaining expertise in basic histology through a variety of experimental studies. The specific aims of the proposed research are the following: 1) Determine the information for human perceivers in microscope slides. Two studies will generate models of the use of diagnostic information in microscope slides for individuals who have completed the first year course in histology. 2) Assess the importance of visuospatial understanding of microanatomy for identification of tissues in microscope slides. An experiment will be conducted to test the hypothesis that the ability to identify structures and tissues in microscope slides will vary directly with the degree to which people have a clear visuospatial understanding of the microanatomy of the whole tissue. 3) Assess the importance of visuospatial understanding of the slice transformation for identification of tissues in microscope slides. An experiment will be conducted to test the hypothesis that the ability to identify structures and tissues in microscope slides will vary directly with the degree to which people have a clear visuospatial understanding of the transformation that relates 3D anatomy to 2D anatomical sections. The results of this research will lead to a detailed understanding of cognition in histology and to advances in theories of visual symbol systems used in the interpretation of images generated by human technology (e.g., x-ray, mri, aerial photographs). This project has the potential to generate substantial change in the methods for developing skill in histology at both the undergraduate and the medical school levels. The study of virtual reality methods of learning in conjunction with a rigorous study of histological reasoning will lead directly to the development of software that may significantly accelerate the development of skill in this challenging and important field.