Our earliest recorded history of brain diseases dates back to the neolithic period (12,000 BCE) when trephination (or trepanation) was practiced by diverse societies. Although begun in prehistory, trephination did not disappear as human society progressed. Trephined skulls were found in ancient regions of the Middle East, Europe, and China. Even today, a different form of the world's oldest surgery (craniotomy) is sometimes performed by modern...