How Does Putting Phineas Gage Relate To Psychology

Have you ever heard the story of Phineas Gage? If you haven’t, he was a young man that suffered a metal tamping iron entering and exciting his head. This injury led to him having damage to his prefrontal cortex, setting him back to having a similar brain structure to an adolescent. In the text, a gruesome but true story about brain science by John Fleishman, “Putting Phineas Together Again” I learned that if a mature prefrontal cortex endures a serious injury, it can truly change the person physically and mentally. After his accident, Phineas acted like an adolescent and resembled one through his behavior. I know that he acted like a child, was very unserious about the things he did, and had trouble planning and making decisions. I know this because according to Dr.

I also know this because in the text it says, “Executive functions enable us to plan and coordinate our decisions and actions, and to exert mental flexibility and self-control. As shown in the case of Phineas Gage, patients with prefrontal cortex damage find it difficult to plan—whether it’s planning what they’re going to do today, next week or next year” (24). This quote proves that Phineas and adolescents have the same ‘executive functions.’ Phineas wasn’t just similar to an adolescent because of his behavior, he also had the same brain structure as an adolescent. Both Phineas and adolescents have a premature prefrontal cortex. Phineas has a premature prefrontal cortex because his injury severely damaged his prefrontal cortex and an adolescents prefrontal cortex has simply not matured yet. I know this because in the text it says, “Many studies have confirmed that one of the brain regions that shows the most striking and prolonged changes is the prefrontal cortex.studies have shown that, when the prefrontal cortex is damaged, a variety of cognitive functions are seriously affected”