The Bible the flock will not follow

Can AnatomicalTerms.info with its synonyms and succinct open definitions be a solution to address variations in usage of anatomical terminology?

Anatomy, the study of human structure, is foundational to medicine. Its language has a long history, with contributions from authors hailing from diverse cultures and countries, adhering to various scientific traditions, speaking different languages, and practicing medicine across a wide gamut of specialties. The resultant disparity in terms provides challenges both for students in learning and for interdisciplinary communication. We report here on a user-friendly look-up web site, "AnatomicalTerms.info" that links a Terminologica Anatomica term to alternative terms in usage: synonyms, polysemes, eponyms, homonyms, and terms in other languages. Accompanying open-source definitions are generated with the help of "Definition Machine" software, that supports creating the most concise and accessible definitions for anatomical terms, eschewing superfluous description, thus reducing cognitive load of learners of anatomy looking up terms. AnatomicalTerms.info is a readily accessible online source for both the authoritative and alternatively used terms that can accurately cross-reference and/or disambiguate anatomical structures across disciplinary and cultural divides. As such, it can serve as a useful educational and clinical resource that is also flexibly open to additions and expansion as anatomical and clinical needs dictate.

Re-examining our roots: Queer history and anatomy

Since its establishment as one of the major authorities on the human body, Anatomy has played a crucial role in social and political spheres. In this article, I review how the history of Anatomy has intersected with queer history and how the effects of these interactions have affected queer lives today. In these historical cases, I aim to demonstrate how Anatomy has affected the social organization of human culture and society and also how society has affected anatomical knowledge in return. As this reciprocal connection between Anatomy and societal organization is elucidated, I argue that anatomists, clinicians, and educators have an ethical duty to address the connections of this history, both in our research and our classrooms. This historical tour begins in the ancient world, which established a connection between sexuality and physiology and reproduction. This is followed by an exploration of the Renaissance and Enlightenment, which highlight the connections between anatomical knowledge, the law, and social organization. The progressive and modern eras are explored next via modern research into the anatomical and biological origins of same-sex attraction and the use of modern technology in these investigations. Finally, the article ends with a call for reform along with suggestions for future steps.

Contrast in usage of FCAT-approved anatomical terminology between members of two anatomy associations in North America

Almost 12 years since the publishing of Terminologia Anatomica (TA) by the Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology (FCAT), there has yet to be a unified adoption of FCAT-recommended anatomical terms by North American anatomists. A survey was sent to members of the Human Anatomy & Physiology Society (HAPS) to compare the frequency of FCAT term usage with a previous study involving the American Association of Anatomists (AAA). The HAPS differed from AAA in being composed mostly of biologists (56.5%) who teach anatomy with only 18.3% of respondents having terminal degrees in anatomy. The survey included the same 25 sets of synonymic names for selected gross anatomical structures or related terms used for the AAA survey. Overall results indicate that the FCAT preferred term had the highest frequency of usage in only 40.0% of the survey questions, demonstrating 4% lower compliance than AAA respondents. Compliance with FCAT preferred terms ranged from 92.2% to 1.7% usage. When compared with AAA anatomists, there were reversals in predominant usage between FCAT and non-FCAT terms for six sets of anatomical structures: HAPS respondents predominantly used non-FCAT terms for adrenal gland (88.7%), antecubital fossa (57.4%), patellar tendon (65.2%), ligamentum capitis femoris (36.5%), while preferring the FCAT anterior circumflex humeral artery (45.2%) and anterior/posterior preferred over ventral/dorsal (41.7%). Almost 54% of HAPS anatomists were not familiar with the FCAT, nearly 21% higher than the AAA.