Phineas Gage might be the case study of all case studies. He was a railroad worker in the 1840s that was seriously injured in a railroad accident. Blasting powder exploded near him, causing his tamping iron to fly towards him and enter his skull through his eye, exiting from the top of his skull, landing many feet away. Amazingly, within a few minutes of the accident, Gage was upright and conscious, although seriously injured. Gage suffered severe brain damage, although in the 1800s it was hard for doctors to understand just how much had been affected.
This is an image of where the iron went through Gage's skull.
Gage's left frontal lobe took the brunt of the damage from the iron. This damage dramatically changed his life, personality, and emotions. His doctor reported, "He is fitful, irreverent, indulging at times in the grossest profanity (which was not previously his custom), manifesting but little deference for his fellows, impatient of restraint or advice when it conflicts with his desires, at times pertinaciously obstinate, yet capricious and vacillating, devising many plans of future operations, which are no sooner arranged than they are abandoned in turn for others appearing more feasible." According to some reports, Gage's boss would not hire him after the accident due to his complete change in personality. Gage's injury laid the groundwork for the discovery that the frontal lobe played a major role in personality.
This article gives an interesting account of how the first picture of Gage was found.
Next blog I will talk about a man also suffering from brain damage that plays a very different role in his day-to-day life.
No comments:
Post a Comment