Psychosurgery- Biological therapy

Question 1

Who developed the idea of psycho-surgery?

Answer 1

Egas moniz

Question 2

When did Egas Moniz develop psychosurgery?

Answer 2

1935

Question 3

When was Egas Moniz the nobel prize winner for his work on psychosurgery?

Answer 3

1949

Question 4

What was psychosurgery origionally known as?

Answer 4

Prefrontal leucotomy

Question 5

What did Egas claim?

Answer 5

The removal of the frontal lobe would result in the reduction of aggression and distress

Question 6

What did Egas do in his therapy?

Answer 6

destroyed nerve fibres in the frontal lobe which were impulse control and mood regulators

Question 7

What does it involve?

Answer 7

destroying parts of the brain

Question 8

aim of psycho-surgery

Answer 8

• eradicate the undesirable behavior
• relieve stress, anxiety and depression

Question 9

define the term ‘psycho-surgery’

Answer 9

the process of removing or destroying function of the brain in order to bring about change in behavior

Question 10

Deep brain stimulation (DBS)

Answer 10

• possible alternative to psycho surgery
• involves the treading of wires through the skull

Question 11

Stereotic psycho- surgery

Answer 11

involves the use of brain scans such as MRI scans to locate the precise points within the brain and sever connections very precisely

Question 12

Risks of psychosurgery

Answer 12

• seizures
• memory loss
• altered states of mood
• death- 6%

Question 13

Examples of conditions which psycho surgery can be used to treat

Answer 13

depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia

Question 14

What assumptions is it linked with?

Answer 14

• Neurotransmitters
• Localisation of brain function

Question 15

How is it linked to the neurotransmitters assumption?

Answer 15

• Modern methods of psycho-surgery involve stimulating areas of the brain, effecting neurotransmitters
• Low levels of neurotransmitters are linked with mental disorders e.g. serotonin

Question 16

How is it linked to the localisation of brain function assumption?

Answer 16

It involves destroying of certain areas of the brain e.g the frontal lobe due to their functions

Question 17

2 points for the positive

Answer 17

• last resort/mental health act
• lesser of two evils

Question 18

The mental health Act

Answer 18

• made it impossible for the therapy to occur without valid, informed consent from the patient
• only done in the last resort

Question 19

How is the therapy the lesser of two evils?

Answer 19

• better than doing nothing at all
• For example, if someone is chronically depressed and is at risk of suicide, it is better than doing nothing
• better to do this if nothing else is working for the individual

Question 20

What are the 2 negative points of psycho- surgery?

Answer 20

• early psychotherapy
• cannot be reversed/ Mary Lou Zimmerman

Question 21

early psycho- surgery as a negative

Answer 21

• ineffective and innaproppriate
• had a fatality rate of up to 6%
• range of severe side effets such as brain seizures and loss of emotional responsiveness
• although psychosurgery today has improved, the same objections could still apply

Question 22

Cannot be reversed/ Mary Lou Zimmerman

Answer 22

• controversial treatment
• number of cases of severe injury arsing from it
• for example, the case of mary-lou zimmerman
• even modern psychosurgery can have long-term side effects, particulalrly to their cognitive capabilities such as memory

Question 23

pre-frontal lobotomy procedure

Answer 23

holes are drilled into the sides of the skull. a leucotome, is inserted into the frontal lobe and rotated to lesion a core of tissue. this is repeated several times to destroy pieces of frontal cortex.