What is a lobotomy?
Q: What is a lobotomy?
A: A lobotomy, also known as leucotomy, is a type of brain surgery that cuts the connections from the pre-frontal cortex (front part of the frontal lobes) to the rest of the brain.
Q: Who invented it?
A: Lobotomies were invented in 1935 by António Egas Moniz, a Portuguese neurologist.
Q: For what purpose was it used?
A: It was originally used for certain types of mental illness for which there was no other treatment, such as obsessive behaviour and schizophrenia.
Q: Did it have any long-term effects?
A: Long-term studies showed that some patients had severely damaged personalities and often had very little 'drive' or motivation after having a lobotomy.
Q: Is it still used today?
A: Lobotomies are not common today due to advances in antipsychotic drugs like chlorpromazine which can treat many symptoms associated with mental disorders.
Q: What did Moniz win the Nobel Prize for?
A: Moniz won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1949 "for his discovery of the therapeutic value of leucotomy in certain psychoses".
