A brain surgeon begins an anterior cingulotomy by drilling a small hole into a patient's skull. The surgeon then inserts a tiny blade, cutting a path through brain tissue, then inserts a probe past sensitive nerves and bundles of blood vessels until it reaches a specific cluster of neural connections, a kind of switchboard linking emotional triggers to cognitive tasks. With the probe in place, the surgeon fires up a laser, burning away tissue until the beam has hollowed out about half a teaspoon of grey matter.
This is the shape of modern psychosurgery: Ablating parts of the brain to treat mental illnesses. Which might remind you of that maligned procedure, the lobotomy. But psychosurgeries are different. And not just because the ethics are better today; because the procedures actually work. Removing parts of a person's brain is always a dicey proposition. But for people who are mentally ill, when pills and psychiatry offer no solace, the laser-tipped probe can be a welcome relief.
(Score: 2) by SubiculumHammer on Friday June 26 2015, @10:26PM
Perfectly good to be skeptical. Some disorders do seem to be well localized, but most (especially the spectrum disorders) are not. As to the idea that it would develop the same circuit a second time: perhaps, but perhaps not.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Saturday June 27 2015, @12:50AM
To paraphrase the electroshock guys:
"So if it doesn't work you
shock them againcut out a bit more. Eventually, they stop running around the ward bothering people."If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.