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.
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.
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.
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).
