lobotomise
Cut frontal connections
To lobotomise is to perform a lobotomy—a surgical procedure that severs connections in the brain's prefrontal lobe, once used to treat mental illness.
The procedure often left patients docile but mentally diminished, which gives the word its figurative force: to lobotomise something is to strip it of vitality, creativity, or critical thinking.
The committee lobotomised the proposal until nothing interesting remained.
British spelling of lobotomize.
Before the frontal lobe
- transorbitalThrough the eye socket
- psychosurgerySurgery for mental illness
- leucotomyPrefrontal nerve-severing procedure
- trepanationSurgical skull perforation
craniotomy · incision · scalpel · neurosurgery · Freeman · surgical · severing · cutting
Easily controlled or taught
- subduedReduced in intensity
- vegetativeOf plant growth
- personality changeAltered characteristic behavior patterns
- cognitive impairmentDiminished intellectual function
apathy · flat affect · incontinence · seizures · memory loss · diminished · zombie-like · compliant
Voluntary agreement given
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- malpracticeHarmful professional negligence
- inhumaneCallously causing suffering
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
human rights · exploitation · abuse · controversy · stigma · condemned · barbaric · unethical
Shelter from persecution
- institutionalizationEstablishing as norm or standard
- mental illnessDisorder affecting cognition or mood
- schizophreniaPsychotic disorder with delusions
- eugenicsControlled human reproduction theory
1940s · 1950s · Nobel Prize · state hospital · psychiatric ward · antipsychotics · deinstitutionalization · psychiatric history
prefrontal
Before the frontal lobe
- transorbitalThrough the eye socket
- psychosurgerySurgery for mental illness
- leucotomyPrefrontal nerve-severing procedure
trepanation · craniotomy · incision · scalpel · neurosurgery · Freeman · surgical · severing · cutting · disconnection
docile
Easily controlled or taught
- subduedReduced in intensity
- vegetativeOf plant growth
- personality changeAltered characteristic behavior patterns
cognitive impairment · apathy · flat affect · incontinence · seizures · memory loss · diminished · zombie-like · compliant · blunted
consent
Voluntary agreement given
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- malpracticeHarmful professional negligence
- inhumaneCallously causing suffering
autonomy · human rights · exploitation · abuse · controversy · stigma · condemned · barbaric · unethical · vulnerable
asylum
Shelter from persecution
- institutionalizationEstablishing as norm or standard
- mental illnessDisorder affecting cognition or mood
- schizophreniaPsychotic disorder with delusions
eugenics · 1940s · 1950s · Nobel Prize · state hospital · psychiatric ward · antipsychotics · deinstitutionalization · psychiatric history · involuntary
dumbed-down
Made less intellectually demanding
sanitized · defanged · emasculated · hollowed · censored · bland · soulless · bureaucratized · stifled · suppressed
lobotomisestimulate
Provoke into activity
sharpen · enlighten · awaken · enhance · invigorate
lobotomized, lobotomize, lobotomises, lobotomised, lobotomising