Anatomy and Physiology: “hand in hand” evolving

Abstract

Anatomy and Physiology are closely linked and are fundamental curricular units in numerous courses related to the life sciences. Ancestral documents prove that the history of Anatomy and Physiology began in Egypt and is associated with Hippocrates (460-370 BC), known as the Father of Medicine, and his work “Corpus Hippocraticus”. The Greek physician Claudius Galenus (129-200 AD) developed works in the areas of Anatomy and Physiology. From the results of his experiments on animals comes the concept of experimental physiology. Galen is considered the “father” of experimental physiology and his work “On the use of parts of the human body” governed medicine for fourteen centuries, after which some of his theories were contested. Renaissance artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, studied bodies to obtain perfection in artistic forms, contributing to the development of Anatomy. At the Renaissance, the meaning of the word Physiology according to the definition of Jean Fernel (1497-1558) arose for the first time. This was known for the famous phrase: “Anatomy is to Physiology as Geography is to History: both describe the theater of operations”. Jean Fernel is the cornerstone between medieval medicine and modern age medicine. Vesalius (1514-1564) corrected mistakes made by other anatomists and wrote the work “De humani corporis fabrica” which contributed to the recognition of anatomy as a basic science. In the 17th century, one of the greatest contributions to Physiology dates to 1628, the year of the publication of the work “Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus”, by William Harvey (1578-1657), where anatomy was first described and the movement of the heart and the consequent circulation of blood throughout the body. “De Motu Cordis” was the first treatise of the modern age dedicated to a strictly physiological theme. In 1876 the Society of Physiology was founded in London and in 1887 the Society of American Physiology was founded in the United States of America. Both were dedicated to scientific research, education and dissemination of concepts related to physiology. The first International Congress of Anatomy was held in 1895 in Basel.