lobotomy
Noun: 1. A surgical procedure involving the cutting of nerve pathways in the brain's frontal lobe: A lobotomy is a historical neurosurgical operation intended to treat severe mental disorders by severing connections in the brain's prefrontal cortex. This procedure often led to significant and permanent changes in a patient's cognitive abilities, personality, and emotional responsiveness.
The term "lobotomy" is used almost exclusively as a noun to refer to this specific medical procedure. It is primarily discussed in historical, medical, or critical contexts, as the practice is now considered obsolete and widely condemned due to its severe and damaging effects. - The psychiatrist recommended a lobotomy as a last resort for the patient's uncontrollable agitation. - Modern ethics in medicine view the lobotomy as a barbaric chapter in psychiatric history.
- The controversial lobotomy was once awarded a Nobel Prize in Medicine.
- After the lobotomy, the patient became docile but lost all ambition and complex thought.
- Historical films sometimes depict characters undergoing a lobotomy to illustrate extreme medical treatments of the past.
- "to perform a lobotomy": to carry out the surgical procedure.
- The surgeon was known to perform a lobotomy on patients deemed incurable.
- Metaphorical Use: Informally and critically, "lobotomy" can be used metaphorically to suggest an action that renders someone mindless, passive, or devoid of critical thought.
- Watching that show is like getting a cultural lobotomy. (This is a figurative, non-literal use.)
- Prefrontal lobotomy (n): A more specific term for the procedure, specifying the prefrontal region of the frontal lobe.
- Leucotomy (n): Another term for lobotomy, more commonly used in British English.
- Lobotomize (v): The verb form meaning to perform a lobotomy on someone.
- The old medical texts described how to lobotomize a patient.
- Psychosurgery: A broader term for surgical intervention to treat mental illness, which includes procedures like lobotomy.
- Leucotomy: As above, a direct synonym.
The core meaning of "lobotomy" is the surgical procedure itself. Its historical association with causing "marked cognitive and personality changes"—typically negative, such as apathy, diminished intellectual function, and emotional blunting—is an inseparable part of its definition and connotation. The word carries a strongly negative and critical tone in modern usage.
- surgical interruption of nerve tracts to and from the frontal lobe of the brain; often results in marked cognitive and personality changes