Journal Article on the Early History of Psychosurgery

Posted byJason W. Ellis

Dominik Gross’ article “Egas Moniz (1874-1955) and the ‘Invention’ of Modern Psychosurgery: a Historical and Ethical Reanalysis Under Special Consideration of Portuguese Original Sources” is available for free online here. It is a well researched and informative article that covers the early history of surgical interventions on human behavior and mental illness.

I briefly talked to my students on Thursday about lobotomy and its unfortunate past as a tangent to our overall discussion of the brain and its features. I wish that I had read this article before hand, because my knowledge of the procedure is largely informed by the notorious work by Walter Freeman in the US.

Found via MindHacks.com here.

Published by Jason W. Ellis

I am an Associate Professor of English at the New York City College of Technology, CUNY whose teaching includes composition and technical communication, and research focuses on science fiction, neuroscience, and digital technology. Also, I direct the B.S. in Professional and Technical Writing Program and coordinate the City Tech Science Fiction Collection, which holds more than 600 linear feet of magazines, anthologies, novels, and research publications.