ABSTRACT
Phrenology belongs to a never-ending trend-sometimes verging on fanaticism-that, for many centuries, strives to correlate anatomy with behaviors and ultimately with destiny. There are many diaphragms in anatomical terminology: diaphragma bulbi, oris, pelvis, secundarium Luschka, sellae , and urogenitale , among others, all of them referring to a structure of septal nature and/or function. Indeed, Plato considered the diaphragm as "a septum which should isolate in the abdomen the lowest soul and prevent it from too severely disturbing the superior soul". Thus, all structures-10 in number-related to the diaphragm are now referred to as phrenic. A putative link between the diaphragm and troubles of the mind was raised by many anatomists. It is therefore because it was believed to be involved in the soul/mind/mood disorders that the diaphragm shared the Greek root phren with phrenology.
