Phones Gage: The Model for Neuroscience

Phineas Gage is arguably the most famous patient in neuroscientific history. While he was working on a railroad in 1848, an iron rod shot into his left cheek, into his brain, and out through his skull. Surprisingly, Gage survived the accident, but he was not the same person. Prior to his injury, he was a “smart businessman, very energetic and persistent in executing all his plans of operation.” Afterwards. He was always late to work, aggressive, and foul-mouthed.In 1994, researchers reconstructed his skull injury to find that he had damaged both his left and right prefrontal cortices in his brain. This caused problems with emotional processing and rational decision making.This case allowed neuroscientists to come to the conclusion that different areas of the brain have different functions. In this case, they found that the frontal cortex is related to personality, reasoning, language, and social cognition.

Now we know that the cerebral cortex is divided into four lobes, each in charge of a different form of cognition. In addition to the functions mentioned previously, the frontal cortex is also responsible for body movement. The parietal cortices in the middle of the brain are responsible for sensory information. The temporal lobes are responsible for taste and sound and they are located on the sides of your brain. The occipital lobe is in the back and it processes vision.

Frontal lobe damage

Picture Source: mytutor.co.uk