EFFECTS OF FRONTAL LOBOTOMY ON THE MORPHINEABSTINENCE SYNDROME IN MAN

Abstract

ABSENCE of withdrawal signs in narcotic addicts following frontal lobotomy and abstention from drugs has been reported by several observers,¹although a few have presented evidence to the contrary.²Published data are difficult to evaluate because in no instance were control observations made on the character and intensity of the physical dependence on narcotic drugs which was present prior to lobotomy, and because withdrawal of drugs was not abrupt in some cases, while in others observations were delayed beyond the time corresponding to the peak intensity of the opiate-abstinence syndrome. The present study was designed to investigate this problem experimentally. Four subjects were selected, one of whom was a habitual narcotic addict with intractable pain in a phantom limb, while the other three were patients with schizophrenia of long standing who had not responded to treatment. For all four patients frontal lobotomy had been recommended for therapeutic reasons