Egas Moniz
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Egas Moniz
Biographical Information
Born in Portugal in 1874, this Egas Moniz was a Portuguese neuropsychologist. Moniz studied medicine at the Coimbra University, as well as neurology in Paris. He was a professor and faculty member at Coimbra University, and later became the Chair of Neurology in Lisbon. While in Lisbon he worked at Hospital of Santa Maria as a physician. Moniz was most famous for his development of the prefrontal leucotomy and cerebral angiography. Moniz had many famous publications in a variety of fields, including neuropsychology, physiology, and politics. He was the first Portuguese to receive a Nobel Prize, which he earned in 1949 because of his contributions to the field. He died in 1955.
Prefrontal Leucotomy
The procedure, prefrontal leucotomy, was later adopted and simplified by Walter Freeman who renamed it the "lobotomy" as a leucotome (a retractable blade) was no longer used in the modified procedure. Following a previously study done on the removal of frontal lobes in chimpanzees resulting in the exhibition of tame behavior, Moniz became intrigued and wondered what the results of similar work would be in humans with severe mental illness. He reportedly thought that mental illnesses were caused by certain nerve cell connections. In order to treat these mental disorders, including those with depression and psychosis, he performed his first surgery in 1935 to severe nerve fibers in the frontal lobe. After 20 successful surgeries, his work was published and it was deemed a success because of the patient's positive effects in terms of treating their mental illness. More currently there is a greater knowledge about this area in the brain and its implications, and it is now known that a surgery of this kind may have more devastating drawbacks. Many executive functions are compromised, and it is often thought better to treat the mental illness in other ways to avoid the effects on executive functioning. Because of the growing field of pharmaceuticals, chemical drugs more commonly treat such disorders.
Cerebral Angiography
Interesting Facts
Aside from his impressive career contributing to the field of neuropsychology, Moniz became interested in politics. He served many roles in this aspects of his life, including spending time as the Deputy of Portuguese Parliament, Portuguese Ambassador to Spain, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and President of the Portuguese Delegation at the Paris Peace Conference in 1918.
