Phineas Gage: The Tragic Story of a Gentle Man

Hello, my name is Ceren. My presentation about Phineas Gage. Today I’m

going to talk about what makes this case special. Phineas Gage was an American
railroad worker. He was a hard-working, gentle, polite, and respectful person. Before I
talk about the accident that happened to him, I need to mention these nice things that
people said about his personality about his past life. On September 13, 1848, when he
was 25 years old, he was working in Vermont. Around 4.30 (four thirty) pm, Phineas
Gage was using a 43-inch-long, (1meter) 13-pound iron tamping rod to pack the
explosive powder into a hole in the rock, the powder exploded unexpectedly. Phineas
Gage injured a result of explosion. The iron rod used by Phineas Gage flew out of the
hole and entered the left side of Gage’s face from bottom to top. The first of the few
things we call strange in this accident is that the iron rod does not stay in his head. It is
interesting that he is still alive even though the iron rod went in and out of his head.
After the accident, Gage was thrown onto his back from the force of the iron rod and
had some brief convulsions of the arms and legs. Within minutes assisted by his crew,
he could stand, speak, and walk to a wheelbarrow. His co-workers put him on that
wheelbarrow and helped him get to the doctor.
There was a hole in his head about 9 centimeters wide. Gage’s first doctor
explains the situation to Doctor Harlow and Harlow begins to take care of him. Harlow
took notes of Gage’s condition. One of those notes was that his memory still working
perfectly. After a tough early recovery, he eventually regained physical health. Phineas
Gage returned his home after 74 days of treatment. He had a vision loss in his left eye
and partial paralysis on the left side of his face.
So how does the story that introduces us to Phineas Gage begin? After
surviving passage of the tamping iron through his frontal lobe, significant changes in
Gage’s personality. As I explained at the beginning, a respectful and polite man turned
out to have an interestingly disrespectful personality. He suddenly became impatient
and reacted uncontrollably. He acted uncontrollably, especially when he couldn’t get
what he wanted. After the accident he became stubborn and unconvincing. Harlow
wrote that Gage's balance between intellectual faculties and animal propensities was
destroyed, reverting to childlike mental capacity regarding self-restraint and social
appropriateness. Before his injury, although he was not educated in schools, he had a
balanced mind and was regarded by those who knew him as a shrewd, intelligent
businessman, very energetic and persistent in carrying out all plans of operations. His
opinion on the matter changed so radically that friends and acquaintances said he was
“no longer Gage.” It is claimed that because of these changes in his personality, the
construction company where Gage works does not accept him back to work.
So, he goes to Chile and works at a mail delivery job there. The doctors there
said that there was no loss in his mental abilities but changes in his personality. As a
result of this accident, it was learned that there was a direct regulatory effect on the
frontal lobe and especially the prefrontal cortex. It was understood that the prefrontal
cortex has a direct relationship with personality.
Gray matter in the brain is essential for many areas of higher learning, including
attention, memory, and thought. Van Horn's research suggested that Gage lost about
11% of his white matter and about 4% of his gray matter. White matter can regenerate,
which may explain why Gage healed so well.
What Happened to Phineas Gage after the brain damage?

In 1860, Gage moved to San Francisco to live with his family, but he began
experiencing epileptic attacks, possibly related to scar tissue of the injury. The
convulsions worsened over the months, and in 1861, almost 13 years after his
shocking accident, Gage died from complications of severe epilepsy.

Why is Phineas Gage Important to Psychology?

The Phineas Gage case is important to psychology because it provided valuable

insights into the relationship between brain function and behavior. This case helped
researchers understand the role of specific brain regions in regulating personality,
emotion, and decision-making, contributing to our understanding of brain localization
and the complex interplay between brain structures and psychological functions.