this post was submitted on 30 May 2024
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[–] samus12345 14 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I was curious how all these words broke down:

hippo = horse

potamus = river

campus = field

kampos = sea monster

So the "campus" parts are unrelated. The hippocampus part of the brain is named after the sea monster it supposedly resembles.

[–] taiyang 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

That's even weirder, all things considered.

Y'all, my horse sea monster is acting up, can you tell me your name again?

Next thing you'll be telling me the amygdala isn't named after Amy D and her amazing horror Gala.

[–] samus12345 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

I just looked it up and the amygdala is named after an almond. I guess scientists like naming parts of the brain based on what they supposedly look like! Or maybe they were terrified of almonds.

[–] taiyang 3 points 6 months ago

I like the idea that the lead researcher had a terrible nut allergy and decided the part responsible for fear should be named after a nut.

But yeah, makes sense that a bunch of folks digging around in dead brains would name them by shape given we had no idea what each part was (and to be fair, given how plastic it all is, might as well).

[–] PanoptiDon 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] samus12345 4 points 6 months ago

Huh, it does kinda look like a sea monster!