“Why Fly Over the Cuckoo’s Nest? Psychosurgery in My Brain Please!” dives into the ethical dilemma of surgical modification of the human brain, the so called Psychosurgery. Dr. De Salles takes advantage of the racial diverse environment of Southern California to enhance our understanding of the complexity of addiction, anger and human aggression. Psychosurgery for aggressive behavior is traced from the experimental laboratory to surgery in humans, with special attention given to modern neuroscience, neuromodulation and cutting-edge brain mapping techniques. If laws facilitate the use of modern behavior modification surgery for carefully selected patients, the impact of the work of scientists, like those portrayed in Dr. De Salles’ fiction, would earn them the Nobel Prize, as has happened when society recognized the infamous Egas Moniz’s “Frontal Lobotomy”, giving him the 1949 Medicine Nobel Prize.

Are we repeating history by bringing Psychosurgery to light?

          The reality is that millions of people would benefit from neuromodulation to alleviate ominous psychiatric symptoms; not only patients committed to institutions, but their families, health professionals and society at large.  The awareness by the psychiatric community that current medications fail to help approximately 15 % of patients with severe psychiatric diseases spotlights this subject as a societal necessity.

Neuromodulation

          Neuromodulation is already a reality for many previously unsolved diseases of the brain, such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, dystonia and others. Dr. DeSalles’ science fiction proposes its use for aggressive behavior while disclosing families and doctors hurdles to care for psychiatric patients.

A UCLA Professor and Neurosurgeon, Dr. Antonio De Salles, is further developing neuromodulation techniques in collaboration with Neurosigma, Inc. They are dedicated to develop the least invasive procedures possible to treat epilepsy, major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and morbid obesity among others. His novel puts in perspective the importnace of this technology for humankind. 

“Neuromodulation” Novel “Why Fly Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?” by Antonio De Salles now also AVAILABLE on Kindle, Nook and iPad AT:
http://www.amazon.com/Over-Cuckoos-Psychosurgery-Brain-Please/dp/1460961293/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310703762&sr=1-7 Antonio A.F. De Salles, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Neurosurgery – UCLA
http://www.uclahealth.org/AntonioDeSalles
http://www.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?id=930
http://www.antoniodesalles.com