Skip to main content

Search from vocabulary

Content language

Concept information

Preferred term

lobotomy  

Definition

  • As early as 1888, Swiss psychiatrist Gottlieb Burckhardt initiated the first psychosurgery, excising portions of the cerebral cortex in six psychotic patients. His disappointing results were met with hostility and ridicule when he presented his research to colleagues, and both Burckhardt and his work faded into obscurity. [Source: Cultural Sociology of Mental Illness: An A-to-Z Guide; Lobotomy]

Broader concept

Belongs to group

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/lobotomy

Download this concept: