Phineas Gage

Phineas Gage (1823-1860) was an American railway construction foreman. While preparing a blasting hole, he briefly checked over his shoulder to make sure his men were at a safe distance, when he inadvertently set off the explosives. In the explosion, the iron tamping rod Gage had been using was thrust through his skull. Although Gage survived, due to the damage to his frontal cortex, he was “no longer Gage” and has long been a subject of fascination in the neurology and neuropsychology fields.