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Phineas Gage Summary

Phineas Gage was an American railroad foreman who survived a brain injury caused by a metal rod that impacted the frontal lobe of his brain upon penetration. His accident happened in September of 1848 when he set an explosive off to level the ground and clear rocks from the railroad construction site. He used a tamping rod to pack the explosives into the rocks. Gage was 25 years old at the time.

The site of the explosion took place near Cavendish, Vermont, when Gage tamped down gunpowder without adding sand. As a result, his tamping rod, which is about a meter in length and 13.25 pounds, ignited the powder once it struck the rock. The rod shot straight through Gage’s head by entering below his left cheekbone and exiting through the top of his skull, and his left eye became permanently blind. The rod landed almost 82 feet behind him.

Strangely enough, Gage was still conscious and he was able to speak right after the accident. His doctor named dr. Harlow was rushed to the scene but Gage kept working immediately afterward. However, just a few days later he was barely conscious and his head was still continuously bleeding. An infection to the brain took place and his health condition failed terribly to the point that doctors believed he would die soon.

Just a month later, he recovered quickly and was able to return to work. Miraculously, Gage didn’t suffer from memory loss or motor loss due to the impact, but his personality changed drastically. He became irritable and unreliable at work, as well as restless and an alcoholic. Those around him said he was “no longer Gage,” and his doctor observed that he was “a child in his intellectual capacity and manifestations” (O’Driscoll) and that his “intellectual faculties and animal propensities” were unhinged (Brittanica).

Because of his foul personality, the railroad company fired him, so he worked in livery stables in Vermont and then in Chile. After that, he moved to California to help his mother and sister since he was in poor health.

Twelve years later when he was 36 he died from a series of epileptic seizures. His skull, face mask, and tamping rod are permanently placed in Harvard University’s Anatomical Museum.

Since his death, Gage became famous in the study of neuroscience because his case was the first to link brain trauma and the changes in personality. His tamping rod was inscribed with “This is the bar that was shot through the head of Mr. Phinehas P. Gage,” during Gage’s lifetime, which is shown in his portrait with it (Smithsonianmag).

Citations:

Kean, Sam. “Phineas Gage, Neuroscience’s Most Famous Patient.” Pocket, getpocket.com/explore/item/phineas-gage-neuroscience-s-most-famous-patient.

O’Driscoll, Kieran, and John Paul Leach. “‘No Longer Gage’: an Iron Bar through the Head : Early Observations of Personality Change after Injury to the Prefrontal Cortex.” BMJ : British Medical Journal, U.S. National Library of Medicine, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1114479/.

“Phineas Gage.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 Jan. 2021, www.britannica.com/biography/Phineas-Gage.

Phineas Gage: Neuroscience’s Most Famous Patient. 1 Jan. 2010, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/phineas-gage-neurosciences-most-famous-patient-11390067/.