The Crazy Case of Phineas Gage!

Phineas Gage was just a normal railroad construction worker back in the 1800s. But, if you're interested in psychology, I'm sure you've at least heard of him, if not know all about him. One day, as he was filling a hole in the ground with explosive powder, using a tamping iron, a small spark caused the tamping iron to explode out of the ground. It drove straight into his head, under his eye, and exited, landing about 30 yards away. This is a very serious injury! As you can see in the picture below, which is a computer -generated image of his skull, the iron went through his brain!

This is certainly a fatal injury isn't it? Actually no! Phineas Gage survived! He even got up and walked to the cart that drove him to the hospital. Here, you can see him posing with the iron that nearly took his head off!

Can you guess what kind of damage it did to him? Did it cripple him? Did he lose his memory? Nope! All it did was change his personality! I say "all" because he could have been seriously mentally handicapped or worse.
The rod damaged his left frontal cortex. This caused him to lose all social inhibitions. He became aggressive and vulgar. His friends described him as a completely different person. This was one of the first instances suggesting that the brain contributes to personality, so it excited scientists all over the world.
It's still a very interesting case. If you want more information about Phineas Gage, this website explains the details of his accident and the research being done at that time about the brain.