The partnership dissolved a decade later when Dr. Freeman embraced a procedure called a transorbital lobotomy. Dr. Watts, who died in 1994, wanted no part of this. Dr. Freeman set out on his own, performing hundreds upon hundreds of what, unsurprisingly, came to be known as ice pick lobotomies. Did he and Dr. Watts do any good? In such situations, the part of the brain known as the amygdala becomes highly activated; it is a center of emotions, including fear.

Source: New York Times April 17, 2017 00:45 UTC