Singapore Med J 2014; 55(4): 175-176; http://dx.doi.org/10.11622/smedj.2014048
Antonio Egas Moniz (1874-1955): Lobotomy pioneer and Nobel laureate
Tan SY, Yip A
Correspondence: Prof Tan Siang Yong, siang@hawaii.edu
SUMMARY
At the turn of the 20th century, a bolder generation of psychiatrists began using psychoanalysis to treat psychosis. They also began experimenting with ever more invasive techniques, such as the use of insulin and camphor to induce convulsions. This was soon followed by electric shock therapy, which became the treatment of choice in psychotic depression. An area that gained popularity – and notoriety – was psychosurgery. The pioneer in this particular field, Portuguese doctor António Egas Moniz, introduced the infamous frontal lobotomy for refractory cases of psychosis, winning for himself the Nobel Prize for a “technique that just possibly came too soon for the technology and medical philosophy of its own epoch.”
Singapore Med J 2014; 55(4): 175-176; http://dx.doi.org/10.11622/smedj.2014048
