Prefrontal Lobotomy: Stepping-Stone or Pitfall?

Prefrontal control of conditioned suppression and associated cardiovascular variables in the monkey (Macaca mulatta).

“…In light of the human clinical data on relief from chronic anxiety by prefrontal lobotomy, a deficit in anxiety might be proposed. Since the conditioned vascular response returns after only a few days of training and the conditioned suppression recovers within a few weeks, this deficit would be extremely short-lived, unlike the prolonged lessening of anxiety reported for many lobotomized patients (Freeman & Watts, 1950;Holden, Itil, & Hofstatter, 1970).…”

“…Numerous clinical studies and a few animal experiments on the effect of prefrontal lobectomy on emotional behavior have since been undertaken. Ever since the pioneering surgical demonstrations of Moniz and Lima in the mid-1930s, many clinicians have claimed success in relieving chronic anxiety by prefrontal lobectomy (Freeman & Watts, 1950;Holden, Itil, & Hofstatter, 1970). Electrical stimulation of the orbital surface in monkeys caused vascular and respiratory changes such as might occur during anxiety (Kaada, Pribram, & Epstein, 1949), and ablation of the dorsolateral surface eliminated the galvanic skin response (GSR) to a conditioned aversive stimulus (CS) (Grueninger, Kimble, Grueninger, & Levine, 1965).…”

Mental Illness and the Criminal Justice System

“…Within 5 years, over 18,600 individuals had been lobotomized in the United States, and it is estimated that over 50,000 lobotomizes were performed before the procedure fell out of favor (Gostin ). Importantly, the lobotomy was far from a cure for mental illness; rather, the side effects including personality change, epilepsy, incontinence, and catatonia were often worse than the symptoms of the original disorder (Braslow ; Holder et al ).…”