September 13 1998 marked the 150th anniversary of the accident to Phineas Gage, one of the most famous cases of survival after massive injury to the brain, and certainly the most famous case of personality change after brain damage. For this article a sample of the current literature about Gage was examined. It was found that although his case is mentioned in about 60% of introductory textbooks in psychology, there is a good deal of inaccuracy in what has been written about him. Similar inaccuracy was found in a smaller sampling of the psychiatric, medical, physiological, linguistic, and general neuroscientific literature. The main basis of the inaccuracies is an ignorance or disregard of what is contained in the primary sources about Gage, coupled with a tendency to attribute to him characteristics that belong to other cases of frontal damage. The errors and their bases are discussed in an endeavour to restore the picture of Gage to its original state. The paper includes an Appendix of verbatim quotations from the primary sources that can be compared with the later, inaccurate renditions.
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The 1888 dissertation of a female medical student, Ueber Character-Veränderungen des Menschen in Folge von Laesionen des Stirnhirns (On character changes of man as a consequence of lesions of the frontal lobe).
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Neurologische Klinik und Poliklinik, LMU Klinikum, LMU München, Munich, Germany. Electronic address:
A case of brain injury with a transient syndrome of mainly disinhibited behaviour (Franz Binz) was the subject of the 1888 medical dissertation of Leonore Welt (∗1859 Chernivtsi, Ukraine; †1944 Geneva, Switzerland) which came to be discussed quite controversially. Although Binz was never fully forgotten, the similar "American crow-bar case" (Phineas Gage) attracted more interest. Welt's study, in contrast, provides not only well-illustrated neuropathological findings but also more detailed clinical data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFE.L., a modern-day Phineas Gage: Revisiting frontal lobe injury.
Lancet Reg Health Am
October 2022
Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, CCS, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-902, Brazil.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how the brain, particularly the prefrontal cortex (PFC), recovers after injury and focuses on low-frequency oscillatory activity (LFO) as a key factor in this process.
- Data were collected from a patient, E.L., who had significant PFC damage due to an accident, and assessments included various clinical and neuropsychological tests to understand the relationship between LFO and cognitive function.
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Neuroscience Education Begins With Good Science: Communication About Phineas Gage (1823-1860), One of Neurology's Most-Famous Patients, in Scientific Articles.
Front Hum Neurosci
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Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Theory and History of Psychology, Heymans Institute for Psychological Research, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.
Phineas Gage is one of the most famous neurological patients. His case is still described in psychology textbooks and in scientific journal articles. A controversy has been going on about the possible consequences of his accident, destroying part of his prefrontal cortex, particularly with respect to behavioral and personality changes.
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