n. the surgical operation of interrupting the pathways of white nerve fibres within the brain: it was formerly the most common procedure in *psychosurgery. In the original form, prefrontal leucotomy (lobotomy), the operation involved cutting through the nerve fibres connecting the *frontal lobe with the *thalamus and the association fibres of the frontal lobe. This was often successful in reducing severe emotional tension. However, prefrontal leucotomy had serious side-effects and the procedure has now been abandoned.
Modern procedures use *stereotaxy and make selective lesions in smaller areas of the brain. Side-effects are uncommon and the operation is very occasionally (only a few each year in the UK) used for intractable pain, severe depression, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and chronic anxiety, where very severe emotional tension has not been relieved by other treatments.
the region of the brain at the very front of each cerebral hemisphere (see frontal lobe). The functions of the lobe are concerned with emotions, memory, learning, and social behaviour. Nerve tracts in the lobe are cut during the operation of prefrontal *leucotomy.... prefrontal lobe
(stereotactic surgery) n. a surgical procedure in which a deep-seated area in the brain is operated upon after its position has been established very accurately by three-dimensional measurements using CT or MRI. The operation may be performed using an electrical current or by heat, cold, or mechanical techniques. See also leucotomy.... stereotaxy
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