lobotomy
Frontal lobe surgery
Lobotomy is a surgical procedure that severs connections in the brain's prefrontal lobe, formerly used to treat mental illness.
Developed in the 1930s and performed widely through the 1950s, lobotomies often left patients docile but cognitively impaired.
The practice is now discredited.
Figuratively, lobotomy suggests having one's capacity for thought or feeling removed: Watching that show is like getting a lobotomy.
- transorbitalThrough the eye socket
- leucotomyPrefrontal nerve-severing procedure
- icepickPointed tool for chipping frozen water
- 1940sFourth decade, twentieth century
1950s · Nobel Prize · asylum · psychosurgery · institutionalization · mental hospitals · antipsychiatry · eugenics
Through the eye socket
- prefrontalBefore the frontal lobe
- incisionControlled cut into tissue
- anesthesiaInduced loss of feeling
- surgicalRelating to operations
craniotomy · neurosurgery · scalpel · operating theater · surgeon · sterile · patient · recovery
Voluntary agreement given
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- malpracticeHarmful professional negligence
- human rightsInalienable personal freedoms
- inhumaneCallously causing suffering
controversy · stigma · morality · exploitation · abuse · involuntary · medical ethics · informed consent
Psychotic disorder with delusions
- psychosisSevere reality detachment
- mental illnessDisorder affecting cognition or mood
- asylumShelter from persecution
- institutionalizationEstablishing as norm or standard
catatonia · agitation · depression · anxiety · delusion · hallucination · intractable · electroconvulsive
Altered characteristic behavior patterns
- apathyAbsence of feeling
- docilityReadiness to submit
- cognitive impairmentDiminished intellectual function
- memory lossFailure to recall
incontinence · seizures · lethargy · vegetative · compliance · passivity · zombie-like · irreversible
Brain's planning and impulse center
- white matterPale neural fiber tissue
- grey matterNeuronal cell body tissue
- neural pathwaysBrain's communication routes
- severingCutting apart completely
brain tissue · thalamus · cerebral · neurons · synapses · nerve fibers · disconnection · ablation
Lacking thought or awareness
- zombieReanimated dead body
- droneUnmanned flying machine
- brainwashedMentally manipulated into compliance
- numbedDeprived of sensation
dumbed-down · unthinking · robotic · stupefied · vegetable · blank · hollowed-out
Walter Freeman
- transorbitalThrough the eye socket
- leucotomyPrefrontal nerve-severing procedure
- icepickPointed tool for chipping frozen water
1940s · 1950s · Nobel Prize · asylum · psychosurgery · institutionalization · mental hospitals · antipsychiatry · eugenics · involuntary
transorbital
Through the eye socket
- prefrontalBefore the frontal lobe
- incisionControlled cut into tissue
- anesthesiaInduced loss of feeling
surgical · craniotomy · neurosurgery · scalpel · operating theater · surgeon · sterile · patient · recovery · instruments
consent
Voluntary agreement given
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- malpracticeHarmful professional negligence
- human rightsInalienable personal freedoms
inhumane · controversy · stigma · morality · exploitation · abuse · involuntary · medical ethics · informed consent · experimentation
schizophrenia
Psychotic disorder with delusions
- psychosisSevere reality detachment
- mental illnessDisorder affecting cognition or mood
- asylumShelter from persecution
institutionalization · catatonia · agitation · depression · anxiety · delusion · hallucination · intractable · electroconvulsive · antipsychotic
personality change
Altered characteristic behavior patterns
- apathyAbsence of feeling
- docilityReadiness to submit
- cognitive impairmentDiminished intellectual function
memory loss · incontinence · seizures · lethargy · vegetative · compliance · passivity · zombie-like · irreversible · disability
prefrontal cortex
Brain's planning and impulse center
- white matterPale neural fiber tissue
- grey matterNeuronal cell body tissue
- neural pathwaysBrain's communication routes
severing · brain tissue · thalamus · cerebral · neurons · synapses · nerve fibers · disconnection · ablation · lesion
mindless
Lacking thought or awareness
- zombieReanimated dead body
- droneUnmanned flying machine
- brainwashedMentally manipulated into compliance
numbed · dumbed-down · unthinking · robotic · stupefied · vegetable · blank · hollowed-out
- Psychology HistoryFreud, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Jung, William James
- Psychiatry Critiqueanti-psychiatry, overmedicating, overdiagnosis, involuntary treatment, involuntary commitment
- psychosurgeryleucotomy
- surgerysurgery, surgeon, surgeons, operation, incision
- medical historyHippocrates, germ theory, bloodletting, Galen, four humors
- old medicinebloodletting, leeches, leech therapy, leeching, cupping
lobotomymedication
Therapeutic substance for illness
psychotherapy · talk therapy · pharmacotherapy · cognitive behavioral therapy · counseling
lobotomycognitive enhancement
Improving mental function artificially
nootropics · mental stimulation · intellectual development · enlightenment · awakening
lobotomyinformed consent
Permission given with understanding
evidence-based medicine · ethical treatment · patient autonomy · do no harm · patient-centered care
- prefrontal lobotomySurgical disconnection of brain's front
lobotomized, lobotomies, lobotomize, lobotomizes, lobotomizing