Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science
Phineas Gage ( a railroad construction foreman ) has a mishap that will change his life until the end of time. Phineas was a well-known foreman around his area and very much respected for doing dirtier work for everyone else. The interdependence of him and his team was to blast a tunnel through Cavendish, Vermont. The need for this is to get the railroad to pass through the stone of the Green Mountains. Even though Phineas is a well-experienced worker, that’s good at blasting, mishaps will occur and it’ll be tragic for him. During the blast, a thirteen-pound iron bar terminated straight into Phineas' skull through his jawline. His team saw what had just taken place they were in disbelief to see him still alive. Surviving for over 10 years allowed his outrageous accident to be an important reference to neuroscience. Phineas Gage has been the only person to survive this type of brain damage. Scientists discovered new infections and diseases after studying his brain. Also, scientists can now use Phineas' brain as information to help people with similar cases if it occurs. Overall, Phineas Gage's incident made him suffer but helped scientists learn more about the brain. The book “Phineas Gage” is published by John Fleischman in 2004 and its genre is non-fiction: Informational.
The overall theme of this story “Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science” is neuroscience. “When it’s too dry or mixed in the wrong formula, almost anything can set it off, without warning.” This quote how unsafe it was blasting through mountains, one miscalculation could be the death of someone or a group of people. 'His is an 'open brain' injury. The hole on top of his head gives his battered brain swelling room. The bad news is that his brain is open to infection.' This quote gives a brief on how the brain could potentially be infected by the hole, the positive outcome is that it has room for swelling. 'He was limited in ways that are important to all human beings, but he found a way to live, working with horses. He took care of himself. He saw the world.' Phineas was separated from the world ever since the accident, he couldn’t see out of his left eye, suffered from brain damage, had a hole in his head, and leftover scars. His peers noticed that he has become a changed that is aggressive. Overall, each quote plays key a role in how Phineas' brain provides valuable information for neuroscience, how the brain was affected, and how this accident affected Phineas' lifestyle.
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As a fan of science in general, this is a great book to read. This book is written for people that like to learn about the history of neuroscience and how a man survives an accident that had a 1% chance of surviving. We currently realize that our minds control our characters and which part of the brain controls everything from thinking to restraints. My favorite part of the story was when Phineas actually presented how the accident happened by putting a rod through his head. Overall, this story is a little graphic for people that don’t like gruesome stories, but this story helps by it being a reference to neuroscience.
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Essay about Phineas Gage.
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