The surgical removal or destruction of the brain or cerebral function; a procedure or condition resulting from brain removal.
From decerebrate + -tion (noun suffix). This clinical term became standard medical terminology in the 19th century as neuroscience developed systematic procedures and vocabulary.
The study of 'decerebration' in the 1800s was genuinely illuminating—removing the brain to see what animals still do taught us that consciousness and automaticity are separate systems.
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