frontal lobotomy
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈfrʌntəl ləˈbɒtəmi/
- Archaic
:
lobotomía frontal
- Just to clarify, frontal lobotomies in its classic form was not lesioning the prefrontal cortex.
Examples
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- As a wise man once said, I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.
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No, that's not what frontal lobotomy does.
Blog text (27) -
But then if he went in for a frontal lobotomy, that would be like an abortion on a non-pregnant woman.
Blog text (9) -
He needs to have his tongue removed or to give him a frontal lobotomy.
Blog text (5) -
Secondly, forget the death penalty. What about castration and frontal lobotomy as options for people like this?
Blog text (27) -
And he introduced what's now called frontal lobotomies or prefrontal lobotomies as a treatment for severe psychiatric disorders.
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The zeal for this sex-change surgery—perhaps, with the exception of frontal lobotomy, the most radical therapy ever encouraged.
Academic text (1992) -
There have been some notable mistakes in awarding the prizes in the real sciences, most dramatically the 1949 award in physiology or medicine to the inventor of the frontal lobotomy as a treatment for mental disorder.
Academic text (1997) -
Frontal lobotomy was once considered a treatment for severe mental illness, but it often led to unexpected personality changes.
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The controversial practice of frontal lobotomy involved severing connections in the brain to calm aggressive patients.
Synonyms
26
9.9
An operation that cuts nerves in the front brain to treat mental illness, often changing personality and thinking
1
9.9
A surgery that cuts connections in the front of the brain through the eye socket
1
9.9
Surgery that cuts connections in the front of the brain, once used to treat mental illness but often changes personality
1
9.9
A surgery that cuts the connections from the brain's frontal lobe, often causing big changes in personality and thinking
1
9.6
An operation on the brain to treat very serious mental problems when other treatments fail
A brain surgery that cuts connections in the front part of the brain and often changes personality
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase names a lobotomy performed on the frontal part of the brain: 'frontal' specifies the location and 'lobotomy' denotes surgery severing nerve pathways, so the overall meaning is directly derivable from the constituents. This modifier+noun composition is a straightforward, cross-linguistic anatomical description and therefore immediately comprehensible to learners who know both words.
Etymology
Frontal lobotomy comes from a simple, literal idea: frontal means the front part of the brain and lobotomy means cutting a part of a lobe. Doctors actually cut nerve connections in the brain's front to try to change behaviour, so the phrase now refers to that surgery and its strong effects on thinking and personality.