Régis Olry, of the University of Quebec, and Duane Haines, of the University of Mississippi, brought the whole sordid tale to light in an intriguing pair of articles for the Journal of the History of the Neurosciences. These “historians of neuroanatomy” (yes, there is such a profession, and we should be grateful for it) reviewed a very old, circuitous medical literature and found that the human brain was once described as comprising its very own vulva, penis, testicles, buttocks, and even an anus. In fact, part of the cerebrum is still named in honor of long-forgotten whores.
A past professor of neuroanatomy told me that one of the old arguments for why women couldn’t be doctors is because the their delicate nature would be affected by all the rude Latin jokes in the anatomical names.
Following this line of argument, we might expect atheists to be scared away from neuroscience as well owing to the number of structures that are named after gods.
If you remain unshocked by the vulgarity of the brain, the Slate article may be for you.
Link to Slate article on bawdy neuroanatomy.
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