A Smart Approach to Leveraging the NeuroAnatomy App for PTA Faculty (January 2026)

Teaching neuroanatomy has always been one of the tougher challenges in physical therapist assistant education. The brain’s intricate pathways, the dense terminology, the sheer volume of information students need to master—it all adds up to a subject that can feel overwhelming before students even step into the lab.

We’ve seen this firsthand working with PTA programs across the country. Faculty tell us about students struggling to visualize neural pathways from textbook diagrams, or losing engagement with expensive equipment that has a steep learning curve. Materials that work beautifully in a supervised lab setting often aren’t accessible when students need them most—during late-night study sessions or quick pre-exam reviews. The gap between what students need to learn and how effectively they can learn it has been a persistent pain point.

That’s exactly why we developed our NeuroAnatomy app, and why we recently hosted a webinar to show PTA educators how to get the most out of it. What we’re finding is that when students can interact with rotating 3D brain models, watch targeted explainer videos, and work through gamified challenges on their own time, the material finally starts to make sense. More importantly, faculty are discovering ready-made resources that integrate seamlessly into their existing curricula—no expensive equipment required, no elaborate setup needed.

Building Understanding Through Repeated Exposure

One of the fundamental principles we built into the app is what we call graded exposure for skill development. Students benefit enormously when they encounter material multiple times, in different contexts, before being assessed on it. Think about how athletes develop complex motor patterns—they visualize the movement, practice elements in isolation, then gradually integrate everything into full performance. The same principle applies to learning neuroanatomy. With the app, students can watch explainer videos before class to form that initial mental framework. During synchronous sessions, faculty can reinforce those concepts with discussion and demonstration. Then students return to the interactive 3D models in lab, manipulating them to see structures from every angle. Finally, they can review the material again at home, working through practice activities until the connections solidify.

“The tracks are just so hard to visualize,” explained Dr. Charlotte Chatto, the faculty member who authored the NeuroAnatomy app content. “Being able to both see and hear, and to move the 3D model so you can see where tracks run and where they cross—I think that helps students get tactile, kinesthetic, visual learning, all the things we know are good for learning.”

This isn’t just theoretical. We’re hearing from programs that students arrive to lab already familiar with basic structures and terminology, ready to engage at a deeper level rather than encountering everything for the first time.

Three Core Features That Make the Difference

The NeuroAnatomy app centers on three main learning modules, each designed to address a specific aspect of how students build competency in this challenging subject.

• Neuroanatomy Explorer offers four different gamified challenges that immerse students in the material. Set in engaging scenarios—like exploring a Madagascar lowland forest while learning about sensory pathways—these activities last about 30 minutes each and systematically cover brain structures and their functions. Students work through interactive labeling exercises, review directional terminology, and progress from gross anatomy down to individual neurons. The game-like format keeps students engaged while the repetitive practice cements their knowledge.

• Learn by Slice lets students dissect the brain virtually, examining coronal, sagittal, and horizontal sections at different levels. The 3D models zoom and rotate, allowing students to explore from any angle. Pins mark key structures, and students can jump between them systematically or navigate manually. Each pinned structure includes detailed information about its location and function—essentially giving students 24/7 access to the kind of guided exploration that used to require scheduled lab time and faculty supervision.

• Learn by Track addresses what may be the single most difficult aspect of neuroanatomy: understanding neural pathways. Take the dorsal column medial lemniscus tract, for instance. In the app, students see a clear 3D visualization of the entire three-neuron pathway, from sensory receptors in the periphery, through the spinal cord, across the decussation in the upper medulla, and up to the thalamus. Accompanying explainer videos walk through exactly what information each tract carries and what happens when lesions occur at different levels.

The explainer videos deserve special mention. Research shows that short, focused videos—just a few minutes long—are far more effective than lengthy recordings. Each track video combines clear verbal explanation with synchronized visual representations, making abstract concepts concrete. Students can pause, rewind, and rewatch as many times as needed.

Ready-Made Resources That Save Faculty Time

Understanding the content is only half the battle. The other half is figuring out how to integrate new tools into existing course structures without creating extra work for already-stretched faculty.We’ve built several features specifically to address this. Every module in the app includes a bookmarking function. Faculty can curate collections of specific content—say, all the materials related to sensory pathways—and save them into organized folders. These bookmark collections can then be shared directly with students as custom study guides, eliminating the need to create study materials from scratch.

Even simpler, every page in the app has a direct URL that can be copied and pasted into syllabi, course schedules, or learning management systems. Want students to review the spinothalamic tract before Thursday’s lab? Drop the link into your course calendar. No complex integration, no technical barriers.

Perhaps most valuable are the ready-made lab handouts. For each major topic in the app, we’ve created fill-in-the-blank exercises and labeling activities that students can complete as structured learning assignments. The answer keys are included too, but they’re hidden from students in a faculty-only section. Faculty can assign the worksheet, then immediately post the answer key afterward so students can self-check and use it as a study guide.Dr. Sam Coppoletti, our PTA education lead, has used these extensively in his own teaching. “I just inserted the links right into my course handouts and my course schedule,” he explained during the webinar. “What’s the topic, what’s the learning activity, how are you assessing them? I put those in there, and the assessments work really well with the simulations.”

Aligning with PTA Practice: The Right Level of Complexity

A challenge we’ve worked hard to address is making sure content matches the appropriate scope of practice and cognitive level for physical therapist assistant students. PTAs need solid foundational knowledge of neuroanatomy—they can’t provide effective interventions without understanding the underlying neural mechanisms. But the depth and focus differ from what PT students require.

That’s why we’ve been systematically reviewing our simulation content to create PTA-specific versions. Where PT-level simulations emphasize evaluation and differential diagnosis, the PTA versions focus on intervention implementation. This aligns with appropriate levels on Bloom’s Taxonomy—PTAs need to understand, apply, and analyze, but the evaluation and creation of plans of care remains in the PT domain.

For instance, our neurology simulations now come in both PT and PTA versions. PTA students work through scenarios where they implement prescribed interventions, monitor patient responses, and make appropriate decisions about progression or communication with the supervising PT. They’re building clinical reasoning within their scope, without being assessed on skills that aren’t part of their role.

The simulations also support formative assessment beautifully. Students can attempt them multiple times, learning from mistakes without grade penalties. The progress reports they generate can be uploaded as evidence of engagement and learning, giving faculty visibility into where students are struggling without creating artificial high-stakes pressure.

Making It Work in Your Program

The feedback we’re getting from early adopters suggests a few best practices for implementation. First, don’t just list the app as a “supplemental resource” on your syllabus and hope students use it. Build it into specific assignments. Tell students exactly which modules to complete before each class session. Create low-stakes assessment points around the activities.

Second, use the structure that’s already there. The app is organized logically, with clear learning progressions built in. Faculty don’t need to reinvent the wheel—the neuroanatomy content follows a natural sequence from basic orientation and terminology through increasingly complex structures and pathways.

Third, take advantage of the ready-made materials. The lab handouts, explainer videos, and answer keys represent hundreds of hours of development work by experienced educators. You can customize how you use them, but you don’t have to create them from scratch.

Finally, encourage students to see this as a long-term resource, not just a tool for passing your course. One of our goals is supporting lifelong learning. A PTA who graduated two years ago and needs a quick refresher on sacral nerve roots before treating a patient with a specific presentation? That’s exactly the kind of moment where having continued access to clear, reliable reference materials makes a real difference in patient care.

Moving Forward

Neuroanatomy will always be challenging—there’s no way around the complexity of the material itself. But we can remove the unnecessary barriers: the limited access to physical models, the difficulty of visualizing three-dimensional structures from two-dimensional images, the gaps between what students encounter in lecture versus lab versus independent study.

Our NeuroAnatomy app represents one piece of a larger effort to support PTA education with tools that match how students actually learn. We’re continuing to develop content across other domains—orthopedics, acute care, assistive devices—with the same principles in mind: interactive, accessible, aligned with appropriate practice levels, and integrated with teaching resources that respect faculty time.

If you’re teaching neuroanatomy to PTA students and finding that traditional approaches aren’t quite connecting, we’d encourage you to explore what interactive 3D models and structured digital learning activities might add to your toolkit. The technology isn’t meant to replace excellent teaching—it’s meant to extend your reach, giving students the repeated exposure and self-directed practice that builds genuine mastery.

Because at the end of the day, this isn’t about having the fanciest educational technology. It’s about PTA students who confidently understand the neural mechanisms behind the interventions they provide, who can communicate effectively with PTs about patient responses, and who deliver better care because their foundational knowledge is solid. That’s the outcome that matters, and that’s what we’re working toward together.

Want to see the neuroanatomy app in action? Check out our upcoming webinar series, where we’ll be diving deeper into neurology simulations, case studies, and practical implementation strategies for PTA programs. All sessions are recorded and available for later viewing.