Robert Galbraith Heath

Robert Galbraith Heath (May 9, 1915 – September 21, 1999) was an American psychiatrist.^[1][2] He followed the theory of biological psychiatry, which holds that organic defects are the sole source of mental illness,^[3] and that consequently mental problems are treatable by physical means. He published 425 papers and three books.^[4][5][6] One of his first papers is dated 1946.^[7] He was profiled as a "famous American psychiatrist" in 1983 by Psychiatric Annals.^[8]

Heath founded the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology at Tulane University, New Orleans, in 1949 and remained its chairman until 1980.^[4][9][10] He performed many experiments there involving electrical stimulation of the brain via surgically implanted electrodes. He placed deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes into the brains of more than 54 patients.^{[11][12][13][14]} Indeed, he has been cited as the first, or one of the first, researcher(s) to have placed electrodes deep into the brains of living human patients.^[15][1] It has been suggested that this work was financed in part by the government, particularly the CIA or U.S. military.^[16][17][18]

In 1972, he attempted using DBS to convert a homosexual man to heterosexuality, which caused temporary arousal, but did not lead to long term change in attractions.^[19] The man was later described as asexual, rather than homosexual.^[19] Heath also experimented with psychosurgery, the drug bulbocapnine to induce stupor, and LSD,^[20][21][22] using African-American prisoners in the Louisiana State Penitentiary as experimental subjects.^[23] He worked on schizophrenia patients, which he regarded as an illness with a physical basis.^[24] Today Heath's work is considered highly controversial and is only rarely used as reference material.^[1][25][26]