Now we go from putting things into the brain, to taking great chunks of it out. These days, the word "lobotomy" is often used as a joke, however, the reality is more horrifying than hilarious. If I told you that, in 1949, the Nobel prize was award to a man who drove little icepicks into people's eyes, you'd think I'd lost my mind, but that's exactly what they did. The lobotomy began life as a procedure called a "leucotomy", invented by a Portuguese doctor, António Egas Moniz. This initially involved drilling holes into the skull and injecting alcohol to produce sclerosis (the thickening of tissues), and later evolved into removing parts of the frontal lobes. A few years later, a doctor by the name of Walter Freeman, with the help neurosurgeon Dr. James Watts, altered the technique and rechristened it the "lobotomy." In the early days of the operation Freeman and Watts quite literally used an icepick found in Freeman's house, and a small mallet to drive it into patients' brains. The metal spike would be driven through the orbital plate at the top of the eye socket and then a further two inches into the brain. At this point, the good doctors would wiggle it around, whilst getting the patient to recite the Lord's Prayer to enable them to deduce which bits of the brain they were currently whisking about. Despite the brutal nature of the procedure, it actually enjoyed a certain level of success, allowing patients that would have otherwise spent the rest of their lives in institutions to return to their homes and families. Things took a darker turn, however, when Freeman got a bit carried away, merrily hammering into the skull of anyone he deemed to be even slightly mentally ill, including 19 children. He eventually ending up having his license taken away after perform three lobotomies on the same person, the last of which she did not survive. You can watch Dr Freeman explain his technique in the video below but, be warned, it's pretty graphic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWKZD5CgQ0Q
