Physiology & Phineas Gage

Phineas Gage was a 25 year old railroad foreman working in Cavendish, VT when he suffered a traumatic injury.  While tamping blasting powder into a borehole with an iron bar, the bar shot out of the hole and passed through his left eye and exited out of the top of his skull.  Remarkably, he survived and lived for nearly 12 years afterwards (Guidotti, 2012).  Prior to the injury, Phineas was described as hardworking, reliable, and social.  After a short recovery period, he was described as impulsive and disorganized, often using profanity and acting irrationally (Guidotti, 2012).

Phineas Gage made a recovery sufficient enough to care for himself later in life.  Using psychosocial adaptation, people with damage to the frontal lobe are able to live somewhat normal lives.  Utilizing a highly structured environment and a caring and understanding partner, individuals suffering from similar issues recover, but are not cured.  Using a list of simple tasks that must be performed in order help with performing simple day to day tasks, but the irritability, temper, and childish behavior remain.  Learning how to monitor one’s behavior and thinking are important components of modern treatment programs (Macmillan & Lena, 2010).

Understanding which areas of the brain control memory and sensory motor functions can be helpful in understanding what happened to Phineas.  The frontal lobes of Phineas, particularly on the left side of the brain, were severely damaged in the accident.  Frontal lobe damage causes failure in the brain to control or plan actions or regulate them.  Without this ability, Phineas was unable to regulate his speech or behavior.  Over a period of time using psychosocial adaptation, with the help of friends and family, he was able to learn to cope with situations, but never fully recovered (Macmillan & Lena, 2010).

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References

Guidotti, T. L. (2012). Phineas Gage and his frontal lobe - The "American Crowbar Case". Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, 67(4), 249-250.

Macmillan, M., & Lena, M. L. (2010). Rehabilitating Phineas Gage.Neurophyschological Rehabilitation, 20(5), 641-658.