Electroconvulsive Therapy and Trepanation II, Paris, France, c.1930 (silver gelatin print)

On back of photograph, translated from French: The sick brain delivers its secrets. Our photo presents one of the most shocking aspects of the World Congress of Psychiatry which is happening at the Sorbonne in Paris. A new operation allows you to regulate the mechanism of the brain like a mechanic who repairs an engine. It delivers the secret of spontaneous confessions and offers the means to cure all the types of psychiatric diseases: obsessions, mental depressions, suicidal thoughts, etc ... It is even able to completely rid the patient of thoughts. An electrodes headset can record the pulsations of the brain. Then, after trepanation, a needle is pushed down to the specified area, sending a healing current. Every region of the brain is now accessible and the madness is treatable at its very core.. 4.8” x 7.2”