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Leukotomy refers to a procedure that involves the interruption of nerve tracts to and from the frontal lobe. It was first introduced in the 1930s by a Portuguese neurologist, Egas Moniz. His original surgery attempted to destroy the fiber tracts connecting the frontal lobe with the rest of the brain via the injection of alcohol. In 1936, he outlined the procedure for the standard “leucotomy.” This procedure was further refined by future neurologists and neurosurgeons and used in the treatment of a number of psychiatric disorders. The procedure led to marked cognitive and personality changes and eventually fell out of favor although more innovative psychosurgical procedures are being considered.
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Ploumpidis, D., Tsiamis, C., & Poulakou-Rebelakou, E. (2015). History of leucotomies in Greece. History of Psychiatry, 26(1), 80–87. doi:10.1177/0957154X14529224.
Schultz, S., & Henderson, A. L. (1959). Follow-up study on 311 cases of prefrontal leucotomy. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 81, 907–909.
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Zafonte, R., Kurowski, B. (2017). Leukotomy. In: Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_42-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_42-2
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