In times past and recent, a person may have expressed their gratefulness to another person with a statement such as, no one expected to lose their life when they woke up today. This case of Phineas Gage is still a modern mystery to some people, in as much, the fact that he survived this horrific incident was a true blessing and a wonder for all to see. At a period in history where the brain’s activities and functions was in high debated, scientist wanting to prove their theory and every situation that involved the brain an avenue in which they used to fuel their research, Phineas gave them an enormous amount of evidence. In making the point that the brain has different lobes that has control over their respective areas and motor skills of …show more content…
The brain has four major lobes. The frontal lobe, the parietal lobe, the occipital lobe, and temporal lobe are responsible for all of the activities of the body, from seeing, hearing, tasting, to touching, moving, and even memory. After many years of debating, scientist presents what they called the localization issue, Garret explains how Fritsch and Hitzig studied dog with conforming observations, but the cases of Phineas Gage’s accident in 1848 and Paul Broca’s autopsy of a man brain in 1861 really grabbed the attention of an enthusiastic scientific community (Garret 2015 p.6) Look only at Gage’s case study for this essay, the frontal lobe and its position in the brain will be the area of focus in this essay. According to Weiten in the tenth edition of Psychology: Themes and Variation, when describing the frontal lobe region, he expounds in great …show more content…
Gage even suggested that he didn't wish to see his friends, since he would be back to work in "a day or two" anyways” (Cherry 2016). This would prove to be far from the truth in the coming months, Gage was not able to rejoin his crew at the railroad company due to his dynamic change in personality. Cherry writes, “Post-accident, these reports describe him as a changed man, suggesting that the injury had transformed him into a surly, aggressive drunkard who was unable to hold down a job” (Cherry 2016). Truly amazed at his ability to even live a some-what normal life was past expectations, although Phineas had trouble with his personality and other area, he did remarkably well in life. This help strength the argument for localization and took research to greater level for decades to
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
We like to imagine fictional characters meeting people from our world. It’s a nice little fantasy to imagine what would happen if Emma Watson met Hermione Granger, or if Jane Eyre met Quentin Tarantino.
A large concern of the field of neurobiology seems to be finding and understanding a connection between the structure and function of the nervous system. What tangible system of tissues is responsible for creating a given perceived output? Some outputs can be more easily traced back to a specific 'motor symphony' and the involved structures isolated. This problem has obsessed generations of scientists. One of the first of this generation of researcher was F.J. Gall who promoted the idea that observable features of the brain could lead to an understanding of specific traits of action (7). Gall's greatest opponent, Marie-Jean-Pierre Flourens published research on localization of function and among his findings was evidence for sensory perception in certain sub-cortical structures (7). However, when Flourens examined the cerebrum he did not get such clean results. He found that damage to the cerebrum would not compromise specific abilities in the patient based on area, but incapacitate the patient in different ways based on the extent of the created lesion. In other words, damage to the cerebrum effected a diminution of 'higher mental faculties' such as "perception intellect and will" according to how great the lesion actually was, not according to where in the hemispheres it occurred (7). His conclusion proposed these higher mental faculties as existing throughout the structures of the cerebrum, and not isolated as with sensory perception. How is it possible to attribute, say elements of personality to a specific structure? Is their a region of the brain responsible for the way we are? A 'nice' region, an 'angry' gland? Here we encounter the ever ephemeral concept of where the I-function lies within the nervous system.
Ulysses Grant fought in many bloody historic battles but could not stand the sight of blood. Ulysses Grant was the 18th president of the United States and he made our country a strong powerful nation. He was a commanding general and he led the Union army to victory in the American civil war. He helped revolutionize America and gain rights for blacks by helping to create the 15th amendment. Our country thought that he really helped end all the inequality in our country and make a stronger nation. Ulysses Grant helped the passage of the 15th amendment which led to African American voting rights, everyone being more equal, slaves gathering and electing leaders to represent them, and African American freedom.
For instance in the majority of patients it was evident that they favored the right side of the body in fact for a large amount of time after the injury it was clear that the left side of the body rarely showed activity and wasn’t responsive to any stimulation. For example, when responding to sensory stimuli the patients favored the right side of the body, which is controlled by the dominant left half of the brain whereas the left side of the body was rarely active(when he brushed against something with his left side he did not notice that he had done so, and when an object was placed in his left hand he generally denied its presence). This observation now called bisected brain syndrome was further validated by visual auditory and other motor tests. In all tests the subject had one side which was more dominant than the other, effectively giving Gazzinga and his team the conclusion that various functions carried out by the body are indeed subject to localization in certain areas of the brain, however Gazzinga also unearthed new information on the lateralization of the Brain. This was best exemplified in a visual study to check the responses of visual
McCarthy, R., Warrington, E. (1990), Cognitive Neuropsychology: A Clinical Introduction. San Diego: Academic Press Ltd.
The central idea of the novel is Phineas, a very lucky man who survived a terrible accident. After Gage’s accident, medical science changes for the better by getting new information about germs and the brain. Phineas’s life changed forever when a metal rod got shot through his head (damaging the frontal lobe) and causing him to live as a new man for the rest of his life. The first piece of evidence that supports the central idea is on page 20. It states ” Phineas is just not his old self. The new Phineas is unreliable and, at times, downright nasty. He insults old workmates and friends.” This supports the central idea of the novel because after his accident, his personality is not the same. He has trouble working with other people. This supports
However, today they decided to try something new, and jump together. Unfortunately, while they were preparing to jump, the limb jounced Phineas and he lost his balance. He fell down many stories of branches and onto the rock-covered ground below. His injuries were then treated by the school’s doctor, Dr. Stanpole. Dr. Stanpole, states “Phineas had an unlucky fall, he landed right on the side of his leg and shattered his femur and parts of his tibia and fibula. We hope that he will be able to walk again, but his athletic career is done.” Phineas also will not have the ability to fight in the current war because of this devastating injury. Not to mention, his expected sports legacy will never be fulfilled. As we know now, the only witnesses of this horrific event were Gene Forrester and Leper Lepellier. Leper Lepellier recalls seeing two figures on the limb of the tree when Phineas fell. Mr. Lepellier was reportedly standing by the lake and looking up at the tree. He describes seeing the two figures standing on the limb of the tree at the same time. He then announced that the motion reminded him of an engine in that one figure moved and the other fell. He was unable to tell who each figure was because of the bright sun behind them. He says they appeared as only
The most stood out statement from this material for me it is the fact that the brain is enormously plastic and its structure changes with every experience. This confirms the author's
Being an important part of our body, the Frontal Lobe serves to regulate higher intellectual functions such as reasoning, thoughts, and the behaviors within human beings (Frontal Lobe MedicineNet). It is the home to the personality of a person and the ability to communicate with other humans. The frontal lobe is also responsible for all of the primary motor functions, or the ability to move muscles, and two key areas related to speech. The frontal lobe is larger and more developed in humans than any other organism (Frontal Lobe Anatomy). Causing damage to this organ will bring change to the life style of the affected; because of this the frontal lobe must always be protected because injury to it can have severe consequences.
In an average person's day, he or she will use most, if not all, of the brain's functions. Different parts of the brain are related to different actions; for example, the motor cortex sends information to our motor neurons, enabling us to move around. For going to a friend's house, many parts of the brain will be used, but four of them – the Broca’s area, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and occipital lobe – will be the focus of this assignment.
Psychosurgery dates all the way back to 1890 when a German researcher named Frederich Golz removed parts of his dog’s temporal lobes (Sabbatini 1). The temporal lobe is located right behind the temples and is mainly for understanding and comprehending what is being heard. His results were that the dogs seemed to be more calm and tame than the dogs that were not operated on (Sabbatini 1). Golz’s removal of the temporal lobe inspired a physician in Switzerland to perform a similar procedure, but on humans.
Lateralisation of brain function refers that a particular mental procedures are predominantly specified in either the left or right sides of the brain. These mental roles are being delivered through the left or right hemispheres, although it’s never both. Both hemispheres are engaged in several cognitive functions like verbal language and mental state. Nonetheless, it is more common that language is located at the left hemisphere, whereas emotions function at the right side of the brain. To broadly examine more about localization and lateralization of brain function, a number of case studies was led. The split-brain study executed by Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga in 1964 conducted to a superior
Although, many researchers and scientists are interested on the inside of the brain, such as the parts.
One of the most complex and fascinating things in the human body is the brain. The body is “capable of almost everything, but it would not be possible, without the brain receiving information, and analyzing the information.”