leucotomy
Severing brain connections
Leucotomy is a neurosurgical procedure that severs nerve fibers in the brain's frontal lobe, performed historically to treat severe mental illness.
The procedure, also called lobotomy (the preferred American term), was widely used in the mid-twentieth century but fell out of favor due to severe side effects and the advent of psychiatric medications.
The patient underwent a leucotomy in 1952.
Before the frontal lobe
- incisionControlled cut into tissue
- scalpelPrecise surgical knife
- neurosurgeryMedical field treating brain surgically
- psychosurgerySurgery for mental illness
transorbital · trephine · white matter · frontal lobe · cortex · severing · surgical · Freeman
Brain's planning and impulse center
- white matterPale neural fiber tissue
- frontal lobeBrain's decision-making center
- cortexOrgan's external tissue
- cerebrumBrain's largest division
hemisphere · neuron · synapse · axon · dendrite · myelin · glia · thalamus
Psychotic disorder with delusions
- psychosisSevere reality detachment
- mental disorderAbnormal psychological condition
- psychiatric treatmentMental health intervention
- antipsychoticDrug treating psychosis
electroconvulsive therapy · psychiatric hospital · involuntary treatment · institutionalization · mental illness · agitation · intractable · bipolar disorder
Permission given with understanding
- human rightsInalienable personal freedoms
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- malpracticeHarmful professional negligence
- experimentationSystematic testing of ideas
eugenics · stigma · exploitation · backlash · controversial · banned · regulation · medical ethics
prefrontal
Before the frontal lobe
- incisionControlled cut into tissue
- scalpelPrecise surgical knife
- neurosurgeryMedical field treating brain surgically
psychosurgery · transorbital · trephine · white matter · frontal lobe · cortex · severing · surgical · Freeman · ice pick
prefrontal cortex
Brain's planning and impulse center
- white matterPale neural fiber tissue
- frontal lobeBrain's decision-making center
- cortexOrgan's external tissue
cerebrum · hemisphere · neuron · synapse · axon · dendrite · myelin · glia · thalamus · limbic system
schizophrenia
Psychotic disorder with delusions
- psychosisSevere reality detachment
- mental disorderAbnormal psychological condition
- psychiatric treatmentMental health intervention
antipsychotic · electroconvulsive therapy · psychiatric hospital · involuntary treatment · institutionalization · mental illness · agitation · intractable · bipolar disorder · severe depression
informed consent
Permission given with understanding
- human rightsInalienable personal freedoms
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- malpracticeHarmful professional negligence
experimentation · eugenics · stigma · exploitation · backlash · controversial · banned · regulation · medical ethics · disability rights
leucotomypharmacotherapy
Treatment using pharmaceutical agents
medication · psychotherapy · drug therapy · talk therapy · cognitive behavioral therapy
anatomy, dichotomy, leukemia, leukocyte, lobotomy, lobectomy, tonsillectomy, lobotomized, lobectomies