psychosurgery

[sahy-koh-sur-juh-ree]

noun

1. treatment of mental disorders by means of brain surgery.

psychosurgery

/ ˌsaɪkəʊˈsɜːdʒɪkəl, ˌsaɪkəʊˈsɜːdʒərɪ /

noun

1. any surgical procedure on the brain, such as a frontal lobotomy, to relieve serious mental disorders

Other Word Forms

• psychosurgeon noun
• psychosurgical adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of psychosurgery¹

First recorded in 1935–40; psycho- + surgery

Example Sentences

Nonetheless, as the “Johnny Appleseed of psychosurgery,” he barnstormed around the country like an evangelist, visiting asylums and touting lobotomies as a miracle cure.

Read more on Washington Post

Women made up 75 percent of the patients receiving such “psychosurgery” from Walter Freeman and James Watts, two prominent U.S. practitioners.

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They wrote a book about the success of what they call the psychosurgery, and they talked about lots of case studies.

Read more on Salon

The fascination with psychedelic drugs, psychosurgery, brain-stimulation devices, intravenous infusions, etc., is symptomatic of the current mental health crisis.

Read more on New York Times

Initially shocked that his method of pacifying a chimpanzee had been applied to humans, Fulton later became a proponent of psychosurgery.

Read more on Scientific American