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Psychosurgery and Brain Control
Collection StructureFiring Line broadcast records > Episode guide > Psychosurgery and Brain Control
Item Title Psychosurgery and Brain Control
Guest Valenstein, Elliot S.
Guest Blumer, Dietrich
Host Buckley, William F., Jr. (1925-2008)
Date CreatedOctober 18, 1973
Description

An exhilarating finale to the series on human behavior, this one concentrating on the ethical and scientific limitations on psychiatry and psychology. Drs. Valenstein and Blumer specialize in an area the public finds particularly frightening: surgically killing a portion of the brain that is causing intractable difficulties. EV: "Well, I think there has been a tremendous amount of concern because of the popularization of an idea that these techniques may have much greater application than to a few patients who are at the end of their rope, patients whom all psychiatric treatment, all physical therapies, all drugs have failed." ... WFB: "Suppose Willie Sutton said, 'I just don't want to rob banks. Can you do something to my brain that makes me not want to rob banks?'" DB: "Without making the patient into a vegetable?" WFB: "Yes." DB: "I don't think I could guarantee it."

Language(s)
Country of Origin
Place RecordedNew York City, New York, United States
DimensionsDuration: 60 minutes
FormatText
Medium television programs
Aspect Ratio
4:3
Color
color
Soundtrack
sound
Hoover IDProgram S0117
Record Number80040.357
NotesVideo available through special order.
RightsCopyright held by Stanford University. This copy is provided for educational and research purposes only. No publication, further reproduction, or reuse of copies, beyond fair use, may be made without the express written permission of the Hoover Institution Library & Archives on behalf of Stanford University.

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