Search a title or topic

Over 20 million podcasts, powered by 

Player FM logo
Artwork

Content provided by iHeartPodcasts. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by iHeartPodcasts or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.
Player FM - Podcast App
Go offline with the Player FM app!

How the Lobotomy Changed Modern Brain Science

7:59
 
Share
 

Manage episode 505672051 series 2943947
Content provided by iHeartPodcasts. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by iHeartPodcasts or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

On this episode of Our American Stories, in the mid-20th century, families desperate for answers turned to a radical procedure known as the lobotomy. Promoted as a cure for everything from depression to schizophrenia, its brutal methods left thousands of patients permanently damaged. At the center was Dr. Walter Freeman, whose name became synonymous with the transorbital lobotomy and the dark side of psychosurgery. Yet from these failures came progress. The shortcomings of lobotomy forced doctors and scientists to pursue safer, more effective ways to treat mental illness, ultimately laying the groundwork for modern brain surgery. Dr. Theodore Schwartz—neurosurgeon, professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, and author of Grey Matters—traces how a medical misstep opened the door to innovation and helped transform the future of neurosurgery.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  continue reading

3890 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 505672051 series 2943947
Content provided by iHeartPodcasts. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by iHeartPodcasts or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

On this episode of Our American Stories, in the mid-20th century, families desperate for answers turned to a radical procedure known as the lobotomy. Promoted as a cure for everything from depression to schizophrenia, its brutal methods left thousands of patients permanently damaged. At the center was Dr. Walter Freeman, whose name became synonymous with the transorbital lobotomy and the dark side of psychosurgery. Yet from these failures came progress. The shortcomings of lobotomy forced doctors and scientists to pursue safer, more effective ways to treat mental illness, ultimately laying the groundwork for modern brain surgery. Dr. Theodore Schwartz—neurosurgeon, professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, and author of Grey Matters—traces how a medical misstep opened the door to innovation and helped transform the future of neurosurgery.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  continue reading

3890 episodes

All episodes

×
 
Loading …

Welcome to Player FM!

Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices.

 

Copyright 2025 | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | | Copyright
Listen to this show while you explore
Play