 The first British psychosurgical operation was performed in Bristol in December 1940, and by the end of 1944 about 1,000 operations had been carried out in the United Kingdom.By 1954 that figure had risen to about 12,000 with use peaking in 1949.Beginning in the 1940s doctors devised "modified operations" with less extensive cuts or more specific targets (for example, rostral leucotomy and cingulotomy) in an attempt to reduce the damage done by the surgery.