Case Study: Phineas Gage

The Mysterious Case of Phineas Gage

It was September 13, 1848, Phineas Gage was a 25-year-old railroad crew member working in Cavendish, Vermont. He was using a 43 inch long and 1.25-inch wide iron tamping rod and explosive powder in an attempt to level out the ground. Unlucky for Phineas, when the rod made contact with the explosive powder an explosion was triggered and the rod was shot through his left cheekbone, through his entire brain and out his skull supposedly landing an astonishing eighty feet away.

One may call this a typical tragedy in the already known to be dangerous, the railroad industry, however, Phineas Gage was not killed. As a matter of fact, he walked on his own two feet to be taken to a doctor and was able to tell the doctor what had happened! After witnessing Phineas Gage's brain leaking out of his skull while vomiting, Dr. Williams referred him to Dr. John Martyn harlow. Where there he spent nearly two weeks after developing an infection, functioning relatively the same. 

Early after the incident, Phineas returned home to New Hampshire in search of new work with little to no change at all in personality. After working several jobs, Phineas was said to have changed dramatically. The once hardworking and gentle man had become an aggressive drunk who was incapable of keeping a job. His friends claimed after the incident he was "no longer Gage." After moving to San Francisco died 13 years after his incident after a series of epileptic seizures.

The story of Phineas Gage was not only intriguing but historically important in the study of neurological function. Gage's case served as the first study done on the function of different parts of the brain. His injury led to the discovery that the frontal lobe was involved in the personality of someone.

Cherry, Kendra. “The Famous Case of Phineas Gage's Astonishing Brain Injury.”Verywell Mind, www.verywellmind.com/phineas-gage-2795244.