title: Psychosurgery.
abstract: The use of surgical procedures to alter mental states raises many issues. Surgery on the brain has been known for thousands of years, but procedures developed in the 1930s, '40s and '50s, and the reasons for them, raised many ethical issues that remain with us today. The following article touches on the history of psychosurgery, the conditions treated, the literature on the subject, and the ethical and legal issues.
authors.affiliation: University of Wolverhampton, School of Health.
authors.forename: Marilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000601:surgery; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000601:surgery*; D011612:Psychosurgery / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods*; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques