Can the emotional center of the brain be disabled by surgery?

Question

I'm wondering if surgery has been done in the past that severed the emotional center of the brain from the rest of the nervous system/brain. What was the result on the patient ??? Would this disrupt hunger, sleep, sexual desire, etc......????? Did the commonly performed "lobotomy" accomplish this???? Thanks

Answer 1

Yes, in the old days they did lobotomies on people for just those reasons.

Answer 2

If I remember my neuroanatomy courses properly (it's been a long while) there are several places in the brain responsible for emotion. As pleasant as sounds to remove them (if it were possible) wouldn't necessarily improve life any. There is a philospher who wrote a book called "On Desire" who argues that our capacity for emotion is what makes us human. Back in the earlier days of the 20th century, a number of surgeons were doing lobotomies, or, to be more accurate, they were cutting the "wiring" that connected the frontal lobes to the rest of the brain. All you had to do is drill a small hole in the nose near the eyes and stick an icepick in there (don't do this at home). It was like getting a vasectomy--you could do it in an office visit. No you had a person who might have been unhappy but didn't give a sh*t. Unfortunately, since the frontal lobes are resonsible for planning and organizing behaviour (e.g., put your pants on first, then your shoes; don't tell your boss to go f*ck himself if he chews you out) you suddenly had a lot of people who seemed to be superficially happier, but incapable of functioning normally in daily life. Psychosurgery is now a very rare procedure.

Answer 3

yes the brains center for emotions can be "damaged"
the person will cry or laugh without reason
constant yawning is also a sign of the damage

Answer 4

A LOBOTOMY WOULD DO IT..........