Micro-learning is an educational teaching method used to train users on multiple platforms. This article will provide a brief introduction to the concepts of short-term and long-term memory, and explain how micro-learning can be used to increase retention in learners. Micro-lessons can aid in negating the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve and can use reintroduction to keep retention at significantly higher levels. This process also speeds up the learning process overall because students avoid the phenomenon of mental fatigue. The article cites studies suggesting mental fatigue can cause serious cognitive decline in individual performance. By breaking complex courses into manageable smaller lessons, micro-learning preserves the neurotransmitter cascade for steady neurochemical performance. By using mobile devices, students can pause and continue their micro-lessons with ease. The mobile application also gives them the opportunity to continually check on their performance, and adjust their learning accordingly. Micro-learning on mobile devices also keeps engagement levels high because it utilizes different forms of media to keep users captivated.

Pseudoaneurysms occur due to malformations in arterial wall uniformity, leading to blood collection between the outer arterial layers and resultant outpouching of the vessel. Unlike true aneurysms, pseudoaneurysms do not involve all layers of the blood vessel. Mycotic pseudoaneurysms can occur after associated vessel adventitia infection, leading to transmural dissection. Here we present a case of a 78-year-old man with a history of chronic otitis externa and osteomyelitis who presented with increasing right ear pain with bloody discharge and associated headache. Catheter angiography demonstrated a large pseudoaneurysm in the right middle meningeal artery (MMA) at the base of the skull. Based on the clinical findings and the patient’s history, the patient was ultimately diagnosed with mycotic pseudoaneurysms of the MMA. The patient was subsequently treated with antibiotics as well as endovascular embolization and recovered without any complications.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder where the body attacks its own insulating myelin sheaths covering the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. MS patients show signs of mental illness via emotional blunting, liability, apathy, depression, irritability, and psychosis. Many psychiatrists have noted that the symptomatology of mood disorder is very similar to early signs of MS. The mechanism behind the relationship of depression with MS is not entirely understood at this point. However, through advancements in medical imaging techniques, there are now some leading explanations. One main explanation suggests that depression and memory disturbance are correlated to the demyelination within the limbic system caused by MS. Studies showed that following a diagnosis of MS, the rates of depression are significantly elevated in patients. Several studies noted a lifetime prevalence of major depression in >50% of MS patients. These studies foreshadow that depression is a very important clinical harbinger of active demyelination in MS patients. Depression may hint at which subgroup or stage the MS patient is in, without needing to wait for dramatic physical signs or symptoms to commence. Future physicians may be able to use depression as a prodrome for multiple sclerosis and narrow down the prognosis of their patients, treating them earlier.

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Meningiomas are the most common type of primary brain tumors, accounting for about 30% of all brain tumors. Meningiomas originate from the meninges and can be associated with any part of the skull. Classification of meningiomas is based upon the World Health Organization (WHO) classification system and prognosis of meningiomas can be determined via histologic grading. Surgery is the gold standard treatment option for all types of meningiomas. Due to the high vascularity of some meningiomas, surgical resection can lead to certain complications including intraoperative blood loss and hemorrhage. Strategies for complication avoidance include preoperative embolization of the meningioma vascular supply. Preoperative embolization has been shown to assist in surgical resection of selected tumors and decrease intraoperative blood loss. We present a case of successful preoperative embolization for a large, complex, transcalvarial meningioma along with a literature review on this topic.