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In 1848 Phineas Gage, an American railway foreman, survived an iron rod more than a metre long being blasted through his skull. Reports that his behaviour changed afterwards made him one of the first cases to link damage to the front of the brain with personality.

Cavendish, Vermont, 1848

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Gage was packing blasting powder into a rock with an iron tamping rod, 109 cm long and about 6 kg, when a spark set it off. The rod entered under his left cheekbone, left through the top of his head and landed some 25 metres away. It badly damaged his left frontal lobe, the part of the brain behind the forehead that helps with planning and self-control. His doctor, John Harlow, reported that he had become impulsive and foul-mouthed, and friends said he was 'no longer Gage'. Later retellings exaggerated how complete and lasting the change was: he went on to drive stagecoaches in Chile for several years. He died in 1860, and his skull and the rod are kept at Harvard's Warren Anatomical Museum.

Türkçe oku
Amerikalı demiryolu ustabaşı Phineas Gage, 1848'de kafatasını delip geçen bir metreden uzun demir bir çubuğa rağmen hayatta kaldı. Kazadan sonra davranışlarının değiştiği anlatıldı. Bu anlatılar Gage'i, beynin ön kısmındaki hasarla kişilik arasında bağ kurulan ilk vakalardan biri yaptı.
Cavendish, Vermont, 1848

Gage, bir kayaya açılan deliğe barut yerleştirip 109 santim uzunluğunda, yaklaşık 6 kilo ağırlığında demir bir çubukla bastırırken bir kıvılcım barutu ateşledi. Çubuk sol elmacık kemiğinin altından girdi, kafasının tepesinden çıktı ve 25 metre kadar öteye düştü. Beyninin sol ön lobunu, yani alnın arkasında kalan ve plan yapmaya, kendini denetlemeye yardım eden bölgeyi ağır biçimde yaraladı. Doktoru John Harlow, Gage'in düşüncesiz ve ağzı bozuk biri olduğunu yazdı; arkadaşları da onun “artık eski Gage olmadığını” söyledi. Sonraki anlatılar bu değişimin ne kadar köklü ve kalıcı olduğunu abarttı: Gage ilerleyen yıllarda Şili'de birkaç yıl posta arabası sürdü. 1860'ta öldü; kafatası ve çubuk bugün Harvard'daki Warren Anatomi Müzesi'nde saklanıyor.

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Background reading: Phineas Gage
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