I'm sure you're right about interference wth the brain causing rather than curing paralysis and epilepsy (makes sense to me! *s*). However I mentioned it was believed that cranial trepanation may have been used to treat epilepsy and paralysis etc, which is not the same thing as actual brain surgery. Trepanation is simply a surgical procedure in which a hole is cut out of the patient's skull, but the brain itself is not touched (theoretically! LOL).

The purported benefits to be had by having a hole drilled in our skulls as listed by modern groups like the International Trepanation Advocacy Group include "abation of migraine headaches, greater energy and vigor, improved concentration and metal capacity, elimination of depression, psychosis, and stress-related diseases, and a sort of "expanded consciousness" or spiritual awakening"." Just as a rather gruesome aside, as it's not a procedure a legal medical practitioner would undertake, it is usually performed on oneself... *turns greenish*

However, although trepanning was irrefutably practised by many so-called primitive peoples and culture, how can we be sure they were doing it for the same reason as modern advocates??

If anyone is interested, these are some articles worth taking a peek at:

Trepanation in Ancient Times - an excellent and comprehensive round-up of cultures and sites where trepanned skulls have been found, and also considers whether the prime motivation was ritual/magical or therapeutic. It notes that that more trepanned skulls have been found in South America (where the centre for trepanations was restricted largely to the central and southern parts of Peru and to the neighbouring part of Bolivia) than in all the rest of the world together. Also interesting is the list of classical Greek and Roman medical writers that recommended trepanation for wounds of the head, and whose work undoubtedly influenced the surgical world for many centuries.

Neolithic Surgery - this article relates to a 7,000-year-old French trepanned skull and notes that "Why the Ensisheim individual was operated on is unknown, but in African communities that practice trepanation today, including the Kissii of western Kenya, there are two traditional motives: therapeutic (to relieve pressure due to skull fractures) and magical-spiritual (to cure headaches, epilepsy, intracranial tumors, and mental illness). "