Phineas Gage

Phineas Gage is one of the most famous persons to have survived severe damage to the brain.  He is the patient from who scientists learned about the relation between personality and the function of the front parts of the brain. He was the foreman of a crew cutting a railroad bed in Vermont.  He was using a tamping iron to push explosive powder into a hole, the powder exploted and it shot the 43 inch long and 1.25 inches in diameter tamping iron into Gage’s head. When it exploded it shot upward and penetrated his left cheek, it ripped into his brain and went out through his skull. He was blinded in one eye but he did not loose consciousness immediately. He was still conscious when he got to the doctor. After 10 weeks under the care of Dr Harlow, he returned home.

         It is said that before the accident Gage had been the most efficient foreman and was described as having a “well-balanced mind”. He then became ill-tempered, vulgar and was very disconsiderate. He was also stubborn, and never carried out plans that he made like he used to before. His friends said he came back as a different man. His case was the first to imply that there was a connection between brain trauma and personality changes.

         His case influenced discussion about the brain, especially about brain localization. Brain localization is the idea that every part of the brain is independently responsible for a different task or purpose. Brain lateralization is the idead that the brain is divided into 2 sections, right and left hemispheres and each one executes a different function. This idea helps us understand our behavior, personality, creativity.

http://www.deakin.edu.au/hmnbs/psychology/gagepage/Pgstory.php

 http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Phineas-Gage-Neurosciences-Most-Famous-Patient.html#ixzz10CE4l0Wz

http://www.theorderoftime.com/politics/cemetery/stout/h/brain-la.htm
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