The Strange And Curious History of Lobotomy

"It's 75 years since the first lobotomy was performed in the US, a procedure later described by one psychiatrist as "putting in a brain needle and stirring the works". So how did it come to be regarded as a miracle cure? Deep in the archives of London's Wellcome Collection, that great treasure trove of medical curiosities, is a small white cardboard box. Inside is a pair of medical devices. They are simple. Each consists of an 8cm steel spike, attached to a wooden handle."These two gruesome things are lobotomy instruments. Nothing sophisticated," says senior archivist Lesley Hall. "It's not rocket science is it?"These spikes once represented the leading edge of psychiatric science. They were the operative tools in lobotomy, also known as leucotomy, an operation which was seen as a miracle cure for a range of mental illnesses." 

(By Hugh Levinson BBC News, 11/8/2011)

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