Final answer:
A lobotomy was a psychosurgical procedure used to alter the behavior and emotional responses of patients with uncontrollable behaviors by disrupting brain tissue. It was common in the 1940s and 1950s until it was replaced by antipsychotic drugs and other treatments.
Step-by-step explanation:
The psychosurgical procedure designed to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients is a. lobotomy. This procedure involved severing the connections between the prefrontal cortex and the rest of the frontal lobe along with the diencephalon. The prefrontal lobotomy was thought to be necessary for managing patients with potentially uncontrollable behavior because it was intended to alter the emotional responses and behaviors of the patients by disrupting the brain tissue responsible for such behaviors.
Lobotomies were a common practice in the 1940s and early 1950s, falling out of practice with the advent of antipsychotic drugs. They were often performed on individuals with mood disorders, personality disorders, and psychoses. The link between the procedure and changes in mood and personality was depicted in popular media, although a clear understanding of the correlation was not well established.
Nowadays, other treatments like psychotherapy, electroconvulsive therapy, deep-brain stimulation, and medication are preferred over such invasive procedures.