Ganglion: abundle of meanings : The history of development of amultifaceted medical term

Abstract

The variety of meanings of the term ganglion have their origins in the Greco-Roman antiquity. The first clue can be found in the works of Hippocrates who speaks of ganglionic tendon swellings. Later, Galen of Pergamum referred to the nodules of the prevertebral nerve cords discovered by him as ganglia. Therefore, the term was known in pathology for alonger time than in anatomy. From the eighteenth century onwards, ganglion has also been used to denote central nervous structures.