Lobotomy, Prefrontal Leucotomy

Lobotomy (prefrontal leucotomy) is a brain surgery that was performed in the 1930s to 1950s to treat mental disorders.

The essence of the operation was to cut the nerve fibers connecting the frontal lobes of the brain with other parts. This led to changes in the patient's personality and behavior. It was assumed that in this way it was possible to “turn off” pathological emotional reactions and symptoms of mental illness.

Lobotomy has been used to treat schizophrenia, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other mental illnesses. It became most widespread in the USA in the 1940s and 50s.

However, over time it became clear that lobotomy leads to serious side effects - apathy, loss of initiative, and emotional response. Many patients after the operation became “indifferent” and lost their personal qualities.

Due to this, and the advent of psychotropic drugs, the use of lobotomy was discontinued in the 1950s as an inhumane and ineffective treatment method. Today this procedure is considered barbaric and is not used in medical practice.

Okay, I can write an article on the topic of lobotomy and prefrontal leucotomy.

Lobotomy and prefrontal leucotomy are brain surgery techniques that were widely popular in the mid-20th century. They have been used to treat a wide range of mental disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety disorders and others.

Lobotomy was invented in 1935 by American neurologist Walter Freeman and his colleague James Watts. They proposed this procedure as a way to treat mental illnesses that were then difficult to treat by other means. During a lobotomy, a part of the brain that is responsible for emotional and behavioral reactions was surgically removed. This was done by inserting an instrument through the patient's eye socket and breaking the connections that connected the prefrontal cortex to other parts of the brain.

However, lobotomy was extremely dangerous and often led to serious side effects, including memory loss, personality, intelligence and motor impairment.

Later, a more improved procedure was developed, prefrontal leucotomy. It was a more precise and less dangerous surgical procedure, which was carried out under the control of X-rays. During the procedure, a small instrument was inserted into the patient's head and used to disrupt connections between the prefrontal cortex and other parts of the brain.

Prefrontal leucotomy has often been used to treat severe forms of schizophrenia and other mental disorders. However, like lobotomy, prefrontal leucotomy had serious side effects, including memory loss, thinking and intelligence problems.

Today, lobotomy and prefrontal leucotomy are no longer practiced as effective treatments for mental disorders. Instead, more modern and safer methods are used, such as pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. However, the history of lobotomy and prefrontal leucotomy reminds us of the importance of carefully studying new treatments before putting them into practice.

The frontal lobe is the largest and most developed lobe of the human brain. One of their functions is planning and coordinating complex behavior. By removing the frontal lobe surgically, you can deprive a person of planning and coordination. This, in brief, is the theory of lobotomy, for the sake of which such operations are carried out.

Lobotomy surgery was performed primarily in the mid- to late-20th century, primarily in the United States, as a treatment for schizophrenia. It was believed that by removing the “extra” frontal lobes from the brain, which only increase the negative symptoms of this disease, schizophrenics could be cured. The practice of lobotomies was stopped in 1955, after a national meeting was held, where psychiatrists led by Carl Sagansky called for the abandonment of this technique as inhumane and extremely ineffective. By the decision of the American Psychiatric Association, lobotomy within the framework of official activities was recognized as harmful and unnecessary, and the method of treatment itself was completely discredited and outdated. Brain surgeries were performed under general anesthesia, and the average percentage of surviving patients was 30-40%, subject to further treatment in a hospital. Side effects were also widespread, including increased sexual desire and suicidal ideation. 79,000 were produced in the late 1960s