Harlow (Phineas Gage)

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Phineas Gage (1823-1860) worked as a railway foreman in Cavendish, Vermont. Gage's team was aiming to blow up a side of a mountain so they could construct a railway through this path. One day, on the 13th September 1848, Gage had unknowingly forgot to do a safety step procedure in his area that caused a premature explosion to occur. From the explosion, Gage's tamping iron that he had been holding shot through 80 feet (24.3m) away from the area. Being within the iron rod's path, Gage's head had been injured from this incident. The 1m rod first stabbed through Gage's left cheek and worked its way up to his skull. Despite the major damages, including severe brain injuries, Gage remained conscious and physically fine enough to walk and sit in a cart on his way home without collapsing. He eventually arrived home and waited for his physician, Dr Harlow and his assistant, Dr Williams to come. As the doctors and Gage were conversing about the event that just happened, Dr Harlow had been taking on some notes about Gage's behaviour while chatting. Some of the notes are as follows: 'I did not believe Mr Gage's statement at the time, but thought he was deceived. Mr Gage persisted in saying that the rod went through his head.' Harlow had thought this as he believed that it is humanely impossible to survive such damage to the brain. The doctors then examined Gage's injury once more and observed that the rod first hit a small area under the zygomatic arch (cheek) then its path went through to the orbital bone, located on the base of the skull and under and behind the eye socket. While Gage's right hemisphere of the brain stayed fully intact, Harlow concluded that the left hemisphere was severely affected by the accident. After a short period of 2 months subsequent to the accident, Gage had already fully recovered from his injuries and had been ready to start working again.

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