Phineas Gage

Phineas Gage was an American railroad construction foreman who survived a tamping iron passing through his skull in 1848. His case became influential in debates about brain injury, personality, and the localization of mental functions.

Cavendish accident: The 1848 explosion that propelled a tamping iron through Phineas Gage’s skull. This is the accident at the center of Gage’s case.
Prefrontal cortex: The front part of the cerebral cortex, involved in planning, control, and other complex functions. Gage’s injury is commonly associated with damage to frontal regions.
Localization of brain function: The view that particular brain regions contribute distinctively to particular mental or behavioral functions. Gage’s reported changes were used to argue that frontal regions affect personality and conduct.
Historical neuropsychology: The study of past brain disorders and injuries using historical records and modern neurological knowledge. Gage’s case depends on interpreting nineteenth-century descriptions with present-day concepts.
Myth of Phineas Gage: The popular retelling of Gage’s injury as a sudden, total transformation of his personality. This familiar narrative goes beyond what the surviving historical evidence securely establishes.
John Martyn Harlow: The physician who treated Gage and published accounts of his injury and recovery. Harlow’s reports are the principal contemporary medical record of Gage.
Ventromedial prefrontal cortex: A medial and lower region of prefrontal cortex involved in valuation, emotion, and decision-making. Modern reconstructions have focused on possible damage to this region.
Phrenology: A discredited theory that inferred character and mental abilities from the shape of the skull. Gage’s case is sometimes contrasted with phrenology, though his skull injury did not validate it.
Retrospective diagnosis: The diagnosis of a historical person’s condition from records rather than direct examination. Gage’s brain damage and behavioral changes are reconstructed from incomplete records.
Warren Anatomical Museum: A Harvard medical museum that holds anatomical specimens, including Gage’s skull and tamping iron. The preserved objects turned Gage’s injury into a tangible historical exhibit.

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