23/01/2026
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A rare and unsettling medical case from the history of neuroscience reveals how deeply mental illness is tied to specific brain circuits.
In the late 1980s, a 19-year-old man known as George was suffering from an extreme form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). His condition dominated daily life—compulsive hand-washing hundreds of times a day and repeated showers left him unable to function normally. Conventional treatments had failed to bring relief.
After a su***de attempt involving a .22-caliber rifle, George survived with a bullet lodged in his left frontal lobe. Surgeons were unable to remove all of the fragments, but the outcome that followed was extraordinary. Within just three weeks, his obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors had nearly vanished. Over the next five years, he rebuilt his life—maintaining steady employment and excelling academically as a top college student.
His psychiatrist, Dr. Laszlo Solyom, observed that the injury appeared to disrupt a specific brain region involved in OCD while sparing broader cognitive abilities. Today, the case is cited as an exceptionally rare and accidental example of how altering precise neural pathways can dramatically affect mental illness.
This was never a treatment—nor a safe one—but the case continues to inform modern neuropsychiatry. It underscores how much scientists still have to learn about the brain, and how tightly mental health conditions are linked to distinct neural networks.
Source: The New York Times (Feb 25, 1988) — “Brain Wound Eliminates Man’s Mental Illness”
