Editing Psychosurgery (section)

===Early psychosurgery===

Evidence of [[trepanation|trepanning]] (or trephining)&mdash;the practice of drilling holes in the skull&mdash;has been found in a skull from a Neolithic burial site in France, dated to about 5100 BC although it was also used to treat [[Blunt trauma#Blunt cranial trauma|brain cranial trauma]]. There have also been archaeological finds in South America, while in Europe trepanation was carried out in classical and medieval times.<ref name="Robison Surgery">{{cite journal|last=Robison|first=RA|author2=Taghva A |author3=Liu CY |author4=Apuzzo ML |title=Surgery of the mind, mood and conscious state: an idea in evolution|journal=World Neurosurg|date=2012|volume=77|issue=5–6|pages=662–86|doi=10.1016/j.wneu.2012.03.005 |pmid=22446082}}</ref>
The first systematic attempt at psychosurgery is commonly attributed to the Swiss psychiatrist [[Gottlieb Burckhardt]].<ref>For example,
{{Cite book
| chapter = A psychosurgical chapter in the history of cerebral localization: the six cases of Gottlieb Burkhardt
| location = Hove
| publisher = Psychology Press
| isbn = 978-0-86377-395-2
| last1 = Whitaker
| first1 = H. A.
| last2 = Stemmer |first2=B.
| last3 = Joanette |first3=Y.
| editor1-last = Code |editor1-first=Christopher
| editor2-last = Wallesch |editor2-first=C.-W.
| editor3-last = Joanette |editor3-first=Y.
| editor4-last = Roch |editor4-first=A.
| title = Classic Cases in Neuropsychology
| year = 1996
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/classiccasesinne0002unse/page/276 276]
| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=59pMz9m83yQC&pg=PA276
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/classiccasesinne0002unse/page/276
}}</ref> In December 1888 Burckhardt operated on the brains of six patients (one of whom died a few days after the operation) at the Préfargier Asylum, cutting out a piece of [[cerebral cortex]]. He presented the results at the Berlin Medical Congress and published a report, but the response was hostile and he did no further operations.<ref name="Kotowicz">{{Cite journal | last1 = Kotowicz | first1 = Z. | year = 2005 | title = Gottlieb Burckhardt and Egas Moniz – two beginnings of psychosurgery | journal = [[Gesnerus]] | volume = 62 | issue = 1–2| pages = 77–101 | doi = 10.1163/22977953-0620102004 | pmid = 16201322 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
Early in the 20th century, Russian neurologist [[Vladimir Bekhterev]] and Estonian neurosurgeon [[Ludvig Puusepp]] operated on three patients with mental illness, with discouraging results.<ref name="Kotowicz"/>