"No Longer Gage:" A Glimpse into Sociability, Temperament and the Brain
For over a century, the case of Phineas Gage has intrigued everyone interested in the functioning and malfunctioning of the brain. Recently, Gage's brain has been thoroughly examined and the damaged area has been more exactly pinpointed. The solving of the Phineas Gage case, however, has served only to raise more questions, particularly those concerning morality, judgment, and the internal sense of self. If the mechanisms responsible for these markers of human sociability and temperament are simply functions of the nervous system, where, exactly, are they located? What do they do when they are functioning? What do they do when they are malfunctioning? Through the case of Phineas Gage, we can reach a better understanding of the many issues surrounding the role of the brain in human sociability and temperament.
Physically, the phenomenon of Phineas Gage was largely understood over a century ago. During a railroad construction accident in Vermont, a 13.5 lb., 3 foot 7 inch long and 1.5 inch thick tamping iron was rammed under the left cheek bone and out the top of the head of the likable foreman, Mr. Gage. The bar landed 25-30 yards behind him. Miraculously, he never lost consciousness, was able to walk, talk, and was largely recovered within 10 weeks of the accident. Neither his memory nor his intelligence were compromised by the force of the blast or the movement of the bar.
The lasting effects of the accident, however, were in Gage's personality. A previously kind and thoughtful man was now rude and antisocial. "Gage," his friends said, was "no longer Gage." His physician at the time, Dr. Harlow, said in 1868 that "his equilibrium, or balance, so...
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First, he stayed conscious during his entire accident, which was diagnosed as an open brain injury; in other words, he was alive to feel the pain of the iron rod shooting through his head. Page six of Phineas Gage proves this is shocking by stating “Amazingly, Phineas is still alive… a minute later he speaks.” Second, as the iron rod damaged his brain (causing social problems), the iron rod damaged his skull and face. Gage had huge gashes, a cracked skull, a major loss of blood, and many more injuries revolving his head. On page nine of Phineas Gage, Gage’s immediate physical adversities are described: “He cleans the skin around the hole, extracts the small fragments of bone, and gently presses the larger pieces of skull back in place… he pulls the loose skin back into position…” As anyone can notice, Gage’s physical adversities were very, very harsh, and won’t compare to the adversities faced by Lacks and
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Danvers, an insane asylum in Boston, Massachusetts was the rumored birthplace of the procedure known as lobotomy (Taylor). Dr. Walter Freeman studied lobotomy, and he was the first to practice the procedure. Lobotomy began with electric shock to the forehead. Then the eye lids were folded back and an ice pick was used to sever the frontal lobes. The patient would have black eyes after this awful procedure. This was supposed to cure an insane person (“YouTube”).
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Kiehl’s (2006) literature review continues with this idea of amygdala implication in psychopathic traits by saying that the amygdala, in particular o...
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Gross, R (2010). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour. 6th ed. London: Hodder Education. p189.
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R. J. Dolan, Emotion, Cognition, and Behavior, Science 8 November 2002: 298 (5596), 1191-1194. [DOI:10.1126/science.1076358]