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Speaking Of Science

A vital brain structure was

forgotten for 100 years because
scientists couldnt agree

By Rachel Feltman November 18

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Diagrams from 1880s brain atlases showing the VOF. (Yeatman et al,
PNAS)

Agroupofresearchershastrackedthecomplicatedhistory
ofalongforgottenneuralpathway,revealingthatthe
brainstructurewhichisvitaltoourabilitytoreadwas
losttoneurologistsforacenturybecauseofbickeringand
confusion.
WhenUniversityofWashingtonresearcherJason
YeatmanwasearninghisPhDatStanfordafewyears
back,hespottedabundleofnervefibersinthebrainthat
he'dneverheardaboutbefore.Yeatman,whowasstudying
thebrainstructuresthatcontributetolanguageprocessing

andreading,sawthattheunfamiliarconnectivestructure

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wasanimportantone.

A brain map showing the VOF in blue, as averaged from 37 brain scans.
(Yeatman et al, PNAS)

Becauseheandhiscolleaguescouldn'tfindanymentionof
thisstructureinmedicalliterature,theythoughtitmight
beanewdiscovery.Butwhentheyreachedouttoothersin

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thefield,theyheardbackfromonescientistwhovaguely
rememberedthisbundleofnervesfromanoldmedical
textbook.
Areallyoldmedicaltextbook.Totrackdownthepieceof
brain'sinitialdiscovery,Yeatmanandhiscolleagueshadto
digintotextsfromtheturnofthe20thcentury.
Itwasrevealedastheverticaloccipitalfasciculus(VOF),
discoveredbyaGermanneurologistnamedCarlWenicke
andincludedinhis1881brainatlas.Yeatmancouldhave
stoppedthere,havingfoundtherightmantocreditinhis
researchpapers.Buthewasintriguedbythestructure's

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10oyearlongdisappearancefromacademicliterature.

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"Thatstartedusonthisfascinatingdetectivemission
figuringouthowthisbrainanatomygotforgotten,"he

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IttookayearofdiggingthroughStanford'sarchives,but
hesolvedthemystery.WhenWernickediscoveredthe
VOF,hemayhavetickedoffhismentor,
theneuroanatomistTheodorMeynert.
Meynerthadtheorizedthatallneuralpathwaysmoved

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fromfronttobackacrossthebrainhorizontally.Butthe
VOFtravelsvertically,soitsexistencemessedwith
Meynert'sbeliefs,whichweregenerallyacceptedamong

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Meynert didn't include the VOF in this 1892 diagram. (Yeatman et al,
PNAS)

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Forwhateverreason,MeynertneverdiscussedtheVOF
thewayhedidotherstructuresdiscoveredbyWernicke.
It'spossiblethatthestructurejustdidn'tinteresthim,
however,asopposedtohimsnubbinghisstudent

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WithoutasignalboostfromMeynert,thestructure
remainedobscure.Othersobservedit,buttheydidn'tcall
itbythesamename,ordescribeditdifferentlybecauseof
theirdissectiontechniques.

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"Imaginebeingastudentatthetime,andtryingto
decipherthis,"Yeatmansaid."Somepeoplearesayingthe
structuredoesn'texistorarearguingaboutit,andsome
aregivingitdifferentnames."Hethinksthattheconfusion
keptanyonefromrecognizingtheVOFinmodern

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textbooks.
Thoughobscure,theVOFmayturnouttobevery
important.
"Itconnectstheregionsofthebrainthatareimportantfor
perceivingformslikerecognizingafriend'sfaceor
readingawordwiththeregionsthathelpyoumoveyour
eyesandfocusonaparticularplaceinspace,"Yeatman
said.Soitcouldhelpthebrainconnectthosetwodifferent
kindsofperception,allowingreaderstoscanentirepages
oftextrapidlyandrecognizeindividualwords.

Rachel Feltman runs The Post's Speaking of Science

blog.