Lobotomy

3 13 2011

Incas performed psychosurgery in Peru dating back a thousand years

• Idea of brain surgery as means of improving mental health began 1890

• parts of temporal lobes of dogs were removed-calmer, less aggressive

• 1935 performed on chimps-same result

• Why not people?

Dr.Moniz- invented 1st lobotomyin 1935

-for which he received Nobel Prize in 1949!

He retired after former pt. shot him in back, turning him into a paraplegic

Moniz drilled holes in sides of forehead, inserted alcohol to sever prefrontal cortex from rest of brain

(later advanced to surgical knife)

Training other Dr.s

Walter Freeman invented “Ice pick Lobotomy”

1. Ice pick inserted above eye with only local anesthetic

2. light tap with mallet through back of orbit

3. swish around like windshield wiper- former difficult pt. now passive

(Transorbital lobotomy)

Transorbital required no anesthesiologist-Electroshock into unconsciousness or local anesthetic

Sometimes a 2nd or 3rd lobotomy

was performed if Dr. not satisfied with results 1st

Started doing them in assembly line fashion- sometimes both eyesat same time

One day did 25 women in a row!

Ice pick method was quicker, cheaper, no hospitalization! Helped clear out overcrowded mental hospitals,reduced overwhelming expense of maintaining mental pt.s

Results were highly unpredictablePt. might become a vegetable, or appear

perfectly normal and hold a responsible job

Why do it?

To cure patient of: DepressionNeurosisPsychosisCriminal behavior

(recommended use only on severe cases - no other treatment worked)

In Japan, for children with disciplinary problems, or who wouldn’t study

x

Could be used for taking care of: political dissidents

Surgery took as little as 10 minutes in office

unwanted relatives

some criminals released only if they agreed to lobotomy

Why not do it?

Destroys higher mental functions:

• Judgment• Future planning• Social awareness• Creativity• Ability to relate emotionally to other people

"these patients are no longer distressed by their mental conflicts but little capacity for any emotional experiences - pleasurable or otherwise. They are described by the nurses and the doctors, as

dull, apathetic, listless, without drive or initiative

docile, needing pushing, passive, lacking in spontaneity, without aim or purpose,

flat, lethargic, placid and unconcerned, childlike

preoccupied and dependent."

Rosemary Kennedy

Sister of John F. Kennedy

Mildly retarded-but became an embarassment to family when started showing interest in boys-

Papa Joe didn’t consult family about having a lobotomy performed on her…

Rosemary's case was a disaster-• left her permanently disabled

• paralyzed on one side

• incontinent

• unable to speak coherently

• She was never allowed to return home

Even as late as 1958, the world was told she went to Wisconsin to become a nun to teach less fortunate children

Hidden away- died at age 86

Eunice formed Special Olympics in her honor

Accidental Lobotomy

Accidental Lobotomy

• Phineas P. Gage, a 19th century railroad worker, suffered an accidental left frontal lobotomy when a spike with which he was tamping dynamite was blown backward through his skull.

• Workers found him with eyes open and talking!

Before and After

Before After

X#KXD<&**!!!! Duh….

Another sad case…

With the discovery of thorazine and other drugs

known as neuroleptics (essentially a chemical lobotomy,

but at least could be reversed somewhat), lobotomies fell out of favor-

Between 1945 and 1965 -50,000 lobotomies performed in US alone

Autopsy of Lobotomized Pt

The End