According to this website
http://www.brain-surgery.com/history.html
"There is ample evidence, however, of brain surgery, dating back to the Neolithic (late Stone Age) period. Unearthed remains of successful brain operations, as well as surgical implements, were found in France-- at one of Europe's noted archeological digs.
http://www.brain-surgery.com/alsace.gif
And, the success rate was remarkable, even circa 7,000 B.C. "
"Pre-Incan civilization used brain surgery as an extensive practice as early as 2,000 B.C."

According to an article from Neurosurgery (the journal)

"Cranial manipulation for various religious, mystical, and therapeutic reasons being evident in Africa more than 10 millennia before the birth of Christ."
Neurosurgery. 2007 Jul;61(1 Suppl):28; discussion 28-31.
Surgery of the human cerebrum--a collective modernity.
Apuzzo ML, Liu CY, Sullivan D, Faccio RA. Department of Neurological Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA..

"Safe and beneficial surgery of the human cerebrum is arguably one of mankind's most notable achievements and one of the great testimonials to human creativity, intelligence, and character. In many ways, it is a testimony to the climates of civilization that have marked human history. In historical terms, in the year 2007, cranial surgery celebrated its 12,000th birthday."

This other article suggests that the ancient egyptians may have been able to perform surgery of the spinal cord (not brain surgery but it is neurosurgery).

Neurosurg Focus. 2007;23(1):E6.
A historical hypothesis of the first recorded neurosurgical operation: Isis, Osiris, Thoth, and the origin of the djed cross.
Filler AG. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

"A new textual analysis of the central religious aspect of the ancient Egyptian creation myth reveals what appears to be a description of the oldest recorded neurosurgical operation, occurring circa 3000 BC. The analysis results in a hypothesis suggesting that traction reduction was used successfully to reverse a paralyzing cervical spine injury of an early Egyptian leader (Osiris), which inspired the story of his resurrection."

The first known medical procedure is called trephination. Trephination is the cutting of a hole through one’s skull to relive excess pressure. This dates back to as early as the Stone Age, around 3,000 BC. Unearthed remains of successful brain operations, as well as surgical instruments, were found in France at one of Europe's noted archeological digs. The success rate was remarkable, even around 7,000 BC. Skulls have been found from about 8,000 BC with these telltale holes, most of which are exact and show growth, meaning that patients often lived for weeks, even months, afterwards .

Pre-historic evidence of brain surgery was not limited to Europe. Early Incan civilization used brain surgery as an extensive practice as early as 2,000 BC. In Paracas, Peru, archeological evidence indicates that brain surgery was used frequently. Here, too, an inordinate success rate was noted as patients were restored to health. The treatment was used to treat mental illnesses they blamed on evil spirits, epilepsy, headaches, and osteomylitis, as well as head injuries. Brain surgery was also used for both spiritual and magical reasons; often, the practice was limited to kings, priests and the nobility.

Several ancient cultures practiced the medical procedure of cutting through the skull. The supermarket tabloids, and some books have called this evidence of brain surgery, and maybe the influence of "ancient astronauts." Was it? Probably not. It was probably just the relieving of pressure of the fluid around the brain. The condition is popularly called "water on the brain." It is still dealt with in the same way. Although this is not brain surgery, it is still fairly impressive that ancient cultures treated this disease. But, was this also their treatment for headaches? Hard to tell, isn't it? Plastic surgery Beverly Hills