The Man With The Hole In His Head

<p>Phineas Gage, a foreman on the New England railroads, was pierced through the head with a 13-pound tamping iron on 13th September, 1848. The rod went straight through his skull and landed several yards away.</p><p>Despite this, Gage was able to present himself at a physician, and anticipated being back at work in a couple of days. In reality, his convalescence was long and difficult, and Dr John Martyn Harlow claimed Gage’s personality had undergone permanent change - an observation which made him perhaps the most notorious case study in neuroscience.</p><p> </p><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly question Dr Harlow’s account; discuss the surgery that saved Gage’s life; and explain how the 2007 discovery of a photograph portraying him holding a ‘harpoon’ has changed how he is perceived forever… </p><br><p><em>Content Warning: injury, gore.</em></p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><p>• ‘Phineas Gage and the effect of an iron bar through the head on personality’ (The Guardian, 2010): <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2010/nov/05/phineas-gage-head-personality" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2010/nov/05/phineas-gage-head-personality</a></p><p>• ‘Phineas Gage: Neuroscience's Most Famous Patient’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2010): <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/phineas-gage-neurosciences-most-famous-patient-11390067/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/phineas-gage-neurosciences-most-famous-patient-11390067/</a></p><p>• ‘Lessons Of The Brain: The Phineas Gage Case’ (Harvard University, 2015): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXbAMHzYGJ0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXbAMHzYGJ0</a></p><br><p><strong>For bonus material and to support the show, visit</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/Patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><p><strong>We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

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