García-Cabezas Miguel Ángel, Pérez-Santos Isabel, Cavada Carmen
Departamento de Anatomía, Histología y Neurociencia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Front Neuroanat. 2021 Oct 7;15:744095. doi: 10.3389/fnana.2021.744095. eCollection 2021.
Understanding the origin of Greek and Latin words used as metaphors to label brain structures gives a unique window into how scientific and medical knowledge was produced, preserved, and transmitted through generations. The history of the term exemplifies the complex historical process that led to the current anatomical terminology. From its first mention by Galen of Pergamon in the 2nd century A.D. to its definitive and current use by Thomas Willis in 1664, the had an epical journey through 1500 years across Europe, the Middle East, and the North of Africa. The was confusingly described by Galen, in the Greek language, as a chamber to the brain ventricles. The term was transferred from Greek to Syriac through the translations of Galen's books done in Baghdad and also from Syriac to Arabic. Then, it was translated in Europe during the Middle Ages from the Arabic versions of Galen's books to Latin. Later, during the Early Renaissance, it was translated again to Latin directly from the Greek versions of Galen's books. Along this epical journey through languages, the term switched from referring to a hollow structure connected to brain ventricles to naming a solid structure at the rostral end of the brainstem. Finally, the was translated from Latin to modern languages, where it is used, until today, to name a nuclear complex of subcortical gray matter in the lateral walls of the third ventricle.
理解用作标记脑结构的希腊语和拉丁语单词的起源，为了解科学和医学知识是如何代代相传、保存和传播提供了一个独特的窗口。这个术语的历史例证了导致当前解剖学术语的复杂历史过程。从公元2世纪帕加马的盖伦首次提及它，到1664年托马斯·威利斯最终确定并沿用至今，它经历了跨越1500年、贯穿欧洲、中东和北非的史诗般旅程。盖伦用希腊语将其令人困惑地描述为脑室的一个腔室。该术语通过在巴格达翻译盖伦的书籍从希腊语转移到叙利亚语，又从叙利亚语转移到阿拉伯语。然后，在中世纪的欧洲，它从盖伦书籍的阿拉伯语版本被翻译成拉丁语。后来，在文艺复兴早期，它又直接从盖伦书籍的希腊语版本被再次翻译成拉丁语。在这段跨越多种语言的史诗般旅程中，这个术语从指代与脑室相连的中空结构，转变为命名脑干前端的一个实体结构。最后，它从拉丁语被翻译成现代语言，至今仍用于命名第三脑室侧壁的一个皮质下灰质核复合体。
