Phineas Gage - The study case
Hello everyone!
Today, we are calling
those curious little ones interested in neuroscience! On this blog post, we will be taking over
the incident of Phineas Gage and its contribution to the study of social
interactions!
Phineas was an American, 25-year-old,
railroad foreman. In 1848, while working on the construction of a railbed in
Vermont (EUA), something went wrong. Gage committed a work mistake which ended
up in a gunpowder explosion. When that happened, the young worker was holding a
crowbar which was immediately shot in his face. The 2,5 cm bar, penetrated his
left cheek, took out his eye and passed through his brain, coming out through
the top of his skull and landing 8 meters away.
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| Figure 1 - Representation of Phineas Gage and the perfurated skull |
He was taken to a doctor right away who gave the case to Dr. Harlow, the physician who studied Gage’s incident over the years.
Surprisingly, Gage not only survived the accident but also never fully lost consciousness. His recovery was complicated due to infection and brain swelling but within a month he was naturally talking and walking around on his own. Harlow observed that Gage’s left frontal lobe was missing from his brain but apart from that, he appeared to have recovered very well physically and neurologically.
However, little time after, Phineas started to evidence some changes in personality and humor. Before the incident, Gage was described as reliable, systematic, and hardworking. Afterwards, he became antisocial, liar, coarse, disrespectful, and unsystematic and started to act without weighing the consequences. "Gage was no longer Gage".
Recently, two Portuguese neurobiologists, Hanna and António Damasio from Iowa University, used computer graphics and brain tomography techniques to explore Gage's brain case. They concluded that the damage might have been done in the ventromedial region of the frontal lobes which is responsible for our capacity of feeling emotions. In contrast, they also concluded that the zone of the frontal lobes responsible for speech and motor functions was apparently spared.
Thereby, they deduced that social behavioral changes observed in Phineas Gage were probably owing to his brain injury since the affected brain region is responsible for processes of rational decision and emotions’ control. When that region of the brain is affected, neuroscientists say that patients become indifferent, distant and have difficulty making decisions.
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| Figure 2 - Functional Areas of the brain |
Phineas Gage was the historical beginning of the study of the biological basis of behavior. He has become a study case with much importance for neuroscience. This study case represents a “natural experiment” in neuroanatomy and behavior. He is evidence that leisure in the frontal cortex can deregulate personality, emotions and social interaction.
Did you enjoy? Leave some comments below about the case!
Learn more here:
Bibliography:
Damasio, H., Grabowski, T., Frank, R., Galaburda, A.,
& Damasio, A. (1994, May 20). The return of Phineas Gage: clues about the brain from
the skull of a famous patient. Science, 264(5162), pp. 1102-1105.
Guidotti, T. L.
(2012). Phineas gage and his frontal lobe—The “american crowbar case”. Archives
of Environmental and Occupational Health, 67, 249-250.
Super Interessante.
(2002, Dezembro 31). Super Interessante BR. Retrieved Dezembro 26, 2017,
from Phineas Gage: https://super.abril.com.br/historia/phineas-gage/
Wikipédia. (2017, Novembro 30).
Wikipédia The free encyclopedia. Retrieved Dezembro 26, 2017, from
Phineas Gage: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage
Rita Mendes
rita300599@gmail.com | 7644
I'm 18 years old and a global marketing study at IPAM Porto, The Marketing School. In my free time I do volunteering and some modeling jobs. I love to travel.
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