Discussion:
Phineas Gage
This assignment involves the story of Phineas Gage, whose name appears in virtually every general psychology textbook. After a heavy metal rod was blown through his temporal lobe, Phineas experienced dramatic mental change. The study of the traumaand its physiological effects provided the first documented evidence of how brain injury can affect human behavior.
Question:
1. What about Phineas' change of behavior is upsetting to Phineas and to those around him?
2. What might be done today to help him compensate or adjust to his losses?
3. What do we need to know about the brain to understand what happened to him?