The name of the pons, that part of the brainstem that is so important for survival functions (like breathing) and holds the nuclei of several cranial nerves, is actually pons varolii. I was wondering why is that? When I learned neuroanatomy I was extremely lucky, because my knowledge of Latin, such as it is, contributed immensely to the memorization of brain structures; so the name of pons means “bridge” in Latin, which makes sense because it looks like one (see picture). But I was at a loss with varolii. Was it some sort of a joke that I missed? Was it the “rude bridge” or, more colloquially, the “a**hole bridge”?! Varo (or the closest thing) in Latin means rude or uncivilized.
Well, turns out that the guy who described the pons for the first time is Costanzo Varolio (1543–1575) and the structure is named after him. Duh! As if it’s uncommon to name things after their discoverer… Anyway, I didn’t read the original account, which is free in its digitized-by-Google form of dubious quality (you can see the actual thumb of the dude who scanned it on the last page and many pages are illegible due to poor scanning technique). I got the information about the pons from the Pioneers in Neurology section in the Journal of Neurology. Varolio wrote a huge letter (seventy-some pages worth!) on 1 April 1572 to another physician describing the optical nerves and the pons. The letter has been published a year later in Padua, Italy. The pons may have been described and/or named earlier, but, alas, the works were not published or published much later. Goes to show that publication is more important that discovery…
Original reference: Varolio, C. (1573). De Nervis Opticis nonnullisque aliis praeter communem opinionem in Humano capite observatis (On the optic nerves observed in the human brain and a few other particulars adverse to the common opinion). Padua. Google ebook
Reference: Zago S & Meraviglia MV (July 2009, Epub 6 June 2009). Costanzo Varolio (1543–1575). Journal of Neurology, 256(7):1195-6. doi: 10.1007/s00415-009-5192-5. Article | FREE FULLTEXT PDF
By Neuronicus, 10 November 2015
The Science Portal 