IPSR (Ice Pick Surgery Refined)
When Delgado demonstrated that electrodes implanted deep within a charging bull’s brain, could be remotely energized thus bringing the animal to a halt, it was the precursor to refinement of a technique that may just stop criminal behavior cold or other forms or anti-social actions without necessitating the use of medications, incarceration or destructive surgery.
Although the thought of behavior control is repugnant to most, it is something to reflect upon. There is a way to perform a frontal lobotomy by inserting a tool (much like an ice pick) into the thin bone medial to the eye. Sweeping this device laterally through the frontal lobe can produce an effective lobotomy with a minimum of fuss and work. This is indeed of historical interest only, if at that, but prior to Haldol, what was there to control behavior?
Jose Manuel Rodriguez Delgado began experimental research with cats, then monkeys and humans. He used his device called a stimoceiver which combined an EEG monitor with an electrical stimulator. This could control behavior and emotions. However, it was his use of the stimoceiver at the Cordoba bull breading ranch which brought him to the public’s attention.
