In the history of psychology, Phineas Gage is the one of the patients who became famous patients in neuroscience. From being injured traumatically in the brain with an iron rod that was driven through his entire skull, it destroyed his frontal lobe. Miraculously, Phineas Gage survived the accident but there was a change in him that everyone stated him as a “different man”.
On September 13, 1848, 25-year-old Phineas was working as the supervisor with a group of men preparing a railroad bed near Cavendish, Vermont. He was using an iron tamping rod to pack explosive powder into a hole where the powder exploded, making the rod hurtling upward. The iron rod penetrated Gage's left cheek, tore through his brain, and left his skull before landing several feet aways from him. Surprisingly, Gage not only survived the injury but was able to speak and walk to go get help from someone. The first physician to respond, Dr. Edward H. Williams, described what he noticed which was the wound on the head. Gage would state that other people would get injured but not like this. He kept repeating that an iron rod went through his head but the physician did not believe him. Later, Phineas got up and vomited; the effort of vomiting pressed out about half a teacupful …show more content…
John Martyn Harlow took over the case. Harlow decided to observe the injury which lead to the statement that the mental changes of Phineas was very noticeable. Some changes by Phineas was knowing the amount of men in his group but not wanting to talk to anyone because he would return to work in a few days so there was no need to see them. After developing an infection, Gage was in a semi-comatose from September 23 to October 3. On October 7, he took his first steps out of bed and by October 11 his mental health started to get better. Harlow recorded that Gage knew how much time had passed since the accident and remembered clearly how the accident occurred, but had difficulty estimating size and amounts of
On September 13, 1848, 25-year-old Phineas was working as the supervisor with a group of men preparing a railroad bed near Cavendish, Vermont. He was using an iron tamping rod to pack explosive powder into a hole where the powder exploded, making the rod hurtling upward. The iron rod penetrated Gage's left cheek, tore through his brain, and left his skull before landing several feet aways from him. Surprisingly, Gage not only survived the injury but was able to speak and walk to go get help from someone. The first physician to respond, Dr. Edward H. Williams, described what he noticed which was the wound on the head. Gage would state that other people would get injured but not like this. He kept repeating that an iron rod went through his head but the physician did not believe him. Later, Phineas got up and vomited; the effort of vomiting pressed out about half a teacupful …show more content…
John Martyn Harlow took over the case. Harlow decided to observe the injury which lead to the statement that the mental changes of Phineas was very noticeable. Some changes by Phineas was knowing the amount of men in his group but not wanting to talk to anyone because he would return to work in a few days so there was no need to see them. After developing an infection, Gage was in a semi-comatose from September 23 to October 3. On October 7, he took his first steps out of bed and by October 11 his mental health started to get better. Harlow recorded that Gage knew how much time had passed since the accident and remembered clearly how the accident occurred, but had difficulty estimating size and amounts of