Storytelling is the Heart of Teaching A&P | TAPP Radio 12

Microglia prune synapses to remodel brain circuits. (6 min)
Kevin's new online seminar on Long-Term Learning. (1 min)
Teaching A&P tells the story of the human body. (15 min)
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Multiple synapse heads send out filopodia (green)
converging on one microglial cell (red),
as seen by focused ion beam scanning
electron microscopy (FIBSEM).
IMAGE: L. Weinhard, EMBL Rome

(0:47) New information shows that microglia nibble on presynaptic neurons using trogocytosis, rather than phagocytosis, to prune synapses during memory formation to help remodel brain networks. Microglia also induce postsynaptic spines to "reach out" to form new synapses with presynaptic neurons.

• Microglia remodel synapses by presynaptic trogocytosis and spine head filopodia induction (original research report)
• Captured: microglia nibbling on brain synapses (article about the original report)
• Neurophobia: The Fear of Neurology Among Medical Students (the title says it all)

(6:50) Kevin has a new online seminar on five strategies to enhance long-term learning in A&P courses.

• Long Term Learning (the new seminar)

Storytellers dramatize their stories.
(my-ap.us/2uvWkPe)

(8:05) Kevin explains why he thinks storytelling is the heart of effective teaching, especially in the A&P course. He outlines the "storytelling persona"; making sure there is a beginning, middle, and end to our stories, applying storytelling to both lectures and the entire course, using drama, conflict and resolution, and other techniques.

• Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling (website with many resources)
• Crash Course in Storytelling (book on the basics of storytelling)
• Long Story Short: The Only Storytelling Guide You'll Ever Need (book; the title says it all)

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