A lobotomy is a surgical procedure that interrupts the nerves in the brain. Before the use of prescription drugs became wide-spread, a common treatment for severe mental illness was lobotomy . LOBOTOMY definition : 1. a medical operation in which cuts are made in or near the front part of the brain, used in the…. Learn more. Lobotomy is a neurosurgical operation that involves severing connections in the brain's prefrontal lobe. A lobotomy (from Greek λοβός (lobos) 'lobe' and τομή (tomē) 'cut, slice') or leucotomy is a discredited form of neurosurgical treatment for psychiatric disorder or neurological disorder (e.g. epilepsy, depression) that involves severing connections in the brain's prefrontal cortex. [1] The surgery severs most of the connections to and from the prefrontal cortex, and the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain. In the past, this treatment was used for handling psychiatric ...