This study aimed to measure medical students' perceptions of the anatomy education environment and determine its association with their learning approaches. First- and second-year undergraduate medical students (N = 234) completed the Anatomy Education Environment Measurement Inventory and the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students. Results revealed that the students' perceptions of all the factors in the anatomy education environment were positive except for two areas-the anatomy learning resources and quality of histology learning facilities. The majority of students in the first year (62.3%) and second year (43.7%) adopted a deep learning approach. There was no significant association between most of the factors in the anatomy education environment and the students' learning approaches, except for the students' intrinsic interest in learning anatomy factor (p = 0.032). The anatomy education environment was positive for the medical students, and there was a prevalence of a deep learning approach among them. However, most of the factors in the anatomy education environment did not influence the students' learning approach. Given that the students' learning approach is a multifactorial construct, investigating the relationship between these two variables in longitudinal time points would provide better insight into the association between the anatomy educational climate and students' learning approaches.
Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) represents a spectrum of pathological processes of various etiologies affecting the brain microcirculation that can trigger neuroinflammation and the subsequent neurodegenerative cascade. Prevalent with aging, CSVD is a recognized risk factor for stroke, vascular dementia, Alzheimer disease, and Parkinson disease. Despite being the most common neurodegenerative condition with cerebrocardiovascular axis, understanding about it remains poor. Interestingly, modifiable risk factors such as unhealthy diet including high intake of processed food, high-fat foods, and animal by-products are known to influence the non-neural peripheral events, such as in the gastrointestinal tract and cardiovascular stress through cellular inflammation and oxidation. One key outcome from such events, among others, includes the cellular activations that lead to elevated levels of endogenous cellular-derived circulating microparticles (MPs). MPs can be produced from various cellular origins including leukocytes, platelets, endothelial cells, microbiota, and microglia. MPs could act as microthrombogenic procoagulant that served as a plausible culprit for the vulnerable end-artery microcirculation in the brain as the end-organ leading to CSVD manifestations. However, little attention has been paid on the potential role of MPs in the onset and progression of CSVD spectrum. Corroboratively, the formation of MPs is known to be influenced by diet-induced cellular stress. Thus, this review aims to appraise the body of evidence on the dietary-related impacts on circulating MPs from non-neural peripheral origins that could serve as a plausible microthrombosis in CSVD manifestation as a precursor of neurodegeneration. Here, we elaborate on the pathomechanical features of MPs in health and disease states; relevance of dietary patterns on MP release; preclinical studies pertaining to diet-based MPs contribution to disease; MP level as putative surrogates for early disease biomarkers; and lastly, the potential of MPs manipulation with diet-based approach as a novel preventive measure for CSVD in an aging society worldwide.