The accident with Phineas Gage, which gave the researchers rich food for thought (7 photos)

"Yes, you are brainless!" Such nasty appeals to opponent are designed to emphasize his limitations and stupidity. Of course, in the cranium of even the most narrow-minded person has a brain. But There are exceptions, albeit rare ones.





This guy - Phineas Gage (1823 - 1860) lived more than 10 years, having lost a fair amount of this important organ. In 1848 a man led a team of explosives who worked on the laying of the Vermont railroad.



Phineas Gage

He sealed the cork over the powder charge with a crowbar. AND, Apparently, he was distracted by one of his colleagues. At this time, the crowbar struck a spark, and gunpowder exploded. As a result of the explosion, a metal rod with a diameter of 3.2 centimeter pierced the builder's skull below the left eye. And the guy lost most of the left hemisphere. Looks like he should have died place. After all, they do not live with such injuries. But the man came to his senses and even coped with the infection that developed in the wound.






It is clear that the path to an area with difficult conditions labor for Phineas was closed. In addition, he lost his memory and, according to eyewitnesses, became almost a different person: the injury affected personal characteristics.

Gage took a job as a coachman in the postal service in New Hampshire. The employer was so pleased with the employee that he recommended him for a similar position in Chile, although the man did not know Spanish language. Gradually, the state of a person who has lost, as it turns out later, 4% of the cortex and 11% of the white matter of the brain began to deteriorate.



He moved to the San Francisco area, where, with the support of sisters and mothers quietly farmed. Beginning in 1860, Gage began to suffer from epileptic seizures. During the next attack he died at the age of 36.

It is noteworthy that the mother did not refuse the interested unusual case to Dr. Harlow and allowed him to take his son's head for research. Thanks to this, the physician has made a significant contribution to neurobiology.



Gage's skull and rod are on display at the Warren Anatomy Museum at Harvard Medical School.

On the basis of the skull, already in our century were made computer models, on the basis of which scientists came to the conclusion that a person who has lost part of the brain can indeed live normally. Of course, this kind of trauma imposes on the personality human imprint: changing character, habits, behavioral patterns. Often relatives and friends of people who have experienced traumatic brain injury, it is said that such a patient becomes a completely different person.



But, most importantly, life, even with a damaged brain continues without losing at least key skills and capabilities. AND Gage's longtime accident helped prove it.