Prefrontal leucotomy

Prefrontal Leucotomy is a form of psychosurgery, a subfield of neurosurgery, that involves severing connections in the brain's prefrontal cortex. Most commonly used to treat severe mental disorders, prefrontal leucotomy has been largely replaced by less invasive treatments but remains a significant part of the history of psychiatry and neurology.

History

The prefrontal leucotomy was first performed in the 1930s by António Egas Moniz, a Portuguese neurologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1949 for his pioneering work in psychosurgery. The procedure was popularized in the United States by Walter Freeman and James Watts, who modified Moniz's technique and renamed it the lobotomy.

Procedure

In a prefrontal leucotomy, the surgeon makes small holes in the patient's skull and inserts a special instrument called a leucotome. The leucotome is used to cut the white matter that connects the prefrontal cortex to the rest of the brain. The goal of the procedure is to alleviate symptoms of mental disorders by disrupting the neural circuits thought to be responsible for them.

Criticism and Decline

The use of prefrontal leucotomy declined significantly in the 1950s with the introduction of antipsychotic medications. The procedure was criticized for its lack of precision and the severe side effects it often caused, including personality changes, cognitive impairment, and in some cases, death. Today, it is considered a last-resort treatment and is rarely performed.

See Also

• Psychosurgery
• Lobotomy
• António Egas Moniz
• Walter Freeman
• James Watts