The Frontal Lobes Revisited

THE DECADE of frontal lobotomy launched in North America in 1942 with the publication of Freeman and Watt's monograph "Psychosurgery,"1reached its apogee in less than ten years, then began an increasingly rapid fall from grace. Within this brief period the lobotomy pendulum had swung from great enthusiasm to almost total rejection. Strong taboos against lobotomy led not only to a cessation of further clinical investigation, but also to an even more serious interruption in the discussion and analysis of mechanisms underlying the observed effects of frontal lesions in various forms of mental disorder and in the treatment of pain. As a result there has been a growing hiatus between the rapidly expanding experimental insight into central mechanisms that may subserve emotional activity and behavior, and the application of these findings to the formulation of new concepts that may lead to advances in the therapy of mental disorders.