He lived over a hundred years ago, with svere brain damage and it is only recently that we are finding out how he actually survived. Gage and his men worked with dynamite, and one afternoon he and the men were all out on the job. After a quarrel had ensued, there was a shuffle and in the confusion some powder got into the wrong place and a steel tamping rod was blown clear through Phineas' head. The areas of damage were from the point of entry, just by his cheekbone and the exit point, through the top of his head. The damage actually left him mostly without pain, he was conscious the entire time. Before the incident Gage was a serious man, always ready to take control but after, he was a different man. We now know that the damage to the brain was in the Orbitofrontal Cortex ( to get a better idea of how the orbitofrontal cortex and its surrounding parts fit into the brain, press the link to the Harvard Med Web ) , which is located at the base of the temporal lobes. This area is just above the orbits, the bones that form the eye sockets. We also know now that injury to this area reduces people's inhibitions and self concern. Therefore, Phineas Gage was no longer a hard working team player, rather a jealous, childish, and often times rageful human being. Phineas Gege's skull is preserved at Harvard University, a reminder of the wonders of the brain.
Well, that was a really big hole in the head, how about a bullet through the mouth?
There was a case reported in the late 1980's of a young man who wanted to commit suicide because he have severe obsessive compulsive syptoms. He had excessive behavoirs such as hand-washing and other behaviors that made him feel incapable in the rest of his life, the behaviors were taking over. He made his plans, he was going to take rifle, place it in his mouth and shoot himself through the head. He placed the .22-caliber rifle into his mouth and pulled the trigger. Amazingly, he survived, the bullet did enter his head, and did do damage but ironically, the damge was helpful. He no longer suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder, and remained without symptoms. Of course- hey- I'm not advocating this or anything, I just found it a good piece of news for the inquiring minds!!!
One more, its kind of a hole- Have you ever heard of someone sticking an ice-pick through your eye to cure your emotional problems?
This was a primitive form of pre-frontal lobotomy. The patients could come in, have the surgery and leave the hospital within the hour with only a set of black eyes to show for it, and a few less emotions. Let me quickly explain the process here so you can get the full effect. The "doctor" would insert a thin peice of metal like an ice-pick into the brain by hammering it through the skull, by way of the orbital cavity, with a mallet. The pick was then swished around from side to side to cut the grey matter that it penetrated in the frontal lobe. This of course was done blind, without any fancy machines to watch what they were doing. The surgery was performed to get rid of severe emotional problems- and oh yes it did that- and it also got rid of any other emotions lying around; the people were no longer themselves. The repercussions of the surgery were overlooked for quite some time. Thank goodness they are frowned apon now- ouch!
Return to my home page