Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library

Phineas Gage, a gruesome but true story about brain science

Label
Phineas Gage, a gruesome but true story about brain science
Language
eng
Index
no index present
Intended audience
1030L, Lexile
Literary Form
non fiction
Main title
Phineas Gage
Nature of contents
dictionaries
resource.studyProgramName
Accelerated Reader AR, UG, 7.4, 2, 59708.
Sub title
a gruesome but true story about brain science
Summary
Phineas Gage was truly a man with a hole in his head. Phineas, a railroad construction foreman, was blasting rock near Cavendish, Vermont, in 1848 when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived to live another eleven years and become a textbook case in brain science. At the time, Phineas Gage seemed to completely recover from his accident. He could walk, talk, work, and travel, but he was changed. Gage "was no longer Gage," said his Vermont doctor, meaning that the old Phineas was dependable and well liked, and the new Phineas was crude and unpredictable. His case astonished doctors in his day and still fascinates doctors today. What happened and what didn't happen inside the brain of Phineas Gage will tell you a lot about how your brain works and how you act human
Target audience
juvenile
Classification
Content