A surgical procedure severing a portion of the
brain. The original operation was developed by A.E. Moniz in the 1930s and was
so heralded as a psychosurgical procedure for severe psychological disorders
that he received the Nobel Prize for his work. With the accumulation of data
from tens of thousands of lobotomies the general conclusion is that the
procedure does not work. Whatever beneficial results may occasionally be
obtained must be balanced against the negative side effects of apathy,
insensitivity, impaired judgment, and seizures, all of which are irreversible.
Recent years have fortunately witnessed its gradual demise.