How Did Phineas Gage Change The Brain

In Eric Kandel's Aplysia experiment, Kandel showed that a slug lost sensitivity in its gills, after repeated contact to which Carr states "the brain...change[s] with experience, circumstance, and need". Both, Kandel's and Merzenich's, experiments lead to the same conclusion of the physical body adapting in real-time to the environment. Carr briefly writes how a man named Bernstein regained movement in his hand and leg after damaging his brain which regulated movement and how through the use of technology analyzing neural activity, Carr tells how violinists had increased cortical areas of their right hand compared to nonmusicians, and compared to their own left cortical areas. Carr's final example for the brain's plasticity is with Pascual-Leone's experiment. Pascual-Leone mapped the brain activity of a group of people playing certain notes on a piano, and a group imagining themselves playing the notes. He concluded that their brains had both changed in response to the experiment, both in playing, and imagining playing. Pascual-Leone's work showed that the human brain can change itself neurologically without physical activity. Carr summarizes, "We become, neurologically, what we think". Carr asserts through these scientific experiments that not only were Freud, J.Z. Young, and William James, correct , but "the adult brain...is not just plastic but...'massively plastic.'" Carr

Imagine a situation where your entire personality is changed forever by an object that pierces an area of your brain. Those who have had a frontal lobotomy, whether purposefully or not, have had their personality changed permanently. An unlucky foreman of the Rutland Railroad, Phineas Gage, was on the receiving end of a tragic occurrence that severed the frontal lobe area of his prefrontal cortex. He underwent the experience of having a railroad spike pierce him beneath his left cheek and exit through his skull, consequently injuring an important area of his brain. This occurrence changed one part of Gage’s personality completely, though he seemed almost entirely functional after his accident. The one thing that changed in Gage was his ability to imagine the future. He lived completely present in the moment. The unique accident that affected Phineas Gage can be broken down with various different philosophical approaches to answer what is called the “mind-body problem”. The mind-body problem is composed of attempting to explain things like beliefs, consciousness, emotions, etc., in organisms. Physicalism, dualism, and functionalism all have their unique explanation for the mind-body problem’s implication of Phineas Gage’s accident.

* First, studies have shown that aspects of experience can sculpt features of brain structure.

In the excerpt “Right Brain Rising”, Daniel Pink tells his experience in depth detail of an intriguing brain scan beneficial both to his curious mind, and the world of science. He then goes on to inform readers of the two distinct halves resting in our skulls; following up with the past inferiority associated with the human right brain, thought to be due to years of evolution. After acknowledging the disproved theory, Pink delves into information pertaining to psychology’s six

The book Brain on Fire, written by Susannah Cahalan, accurately portrays how an event, a conversation, or just one day, can change someone’s life. Susannah led a prosaic life, until she ended up in the hospital with an unknown diagnosis. In that hospital, she was labeled violent, psychotic and a flight risk, as well as spent several weeks in the hospital, meeting many different doctors hoping to find a cure to her unidentified disease.The critical moments in Susannah Cahalan’s life changed her physically, mentally, and taught her to appreciate family.

Although challenging, the exploration of anatomy sealed any doubt that I may have had about

Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen. Psychology, the study of behavior and mind, serves an important role in everyone’s lives. Many people made great discoveries that changed the field of psychology forever, and those people deserve recognition for their groundbreaking findings. One psychologist who improved lives and made a major discovery is Dr. Michael Gazzaniga. For his achievements, he deserves a spot in the Psychology Hall of Fame. First of all, his research shows how the brain enables the mind and behavior. He is responsible, with the help of Roger Sperry, for initiating the human split-brain research where he cut the corpus callosum, the tissue connecting the two hemispheres of the brain. The left hemisphere deals with language and speech

For some, a life time of devotion does not start with birth. A lifetime may not even start until later in life. For Phillip M. Gattone, his life’s work had not begun until his mid-thirties. Woken up by one of his infant son’s crying, he found his son Phillip, who was four at the time, seizing on the floor with eyes rolled back and lips turned steel blue (Condor). Epilepsy had just entered his life. Phillip Gattone is an average weight, healthy, white American man who grew up in the Chicago area, and is unassuming in demeanor. Easily perceived as an average businessman, he does not play sports or do much of anything outside of running the Epilepsy Foundation. Since waking to the nightmarish scene of his son in a seizure, Mr. Gattone’s life purpose has been dedicated to epilepsy research, awareness, and treatment progress. Through his hardship, he has founded the Center for Epilepsy Education in Batavia, became chairman of the Epilepsy Foundation of Chicago, and is now the CEO

A seemingly normal man sits on the exam table in a doctor’s office. He was just referred from the emergency room of the hospital moments earlier and his wife is outside the door, making a call. Neurologist and author of Altered Egos: How the Brain Creates the Self walks in and introduces himself as Dr. Feinberg. The man calls himself John and offers his right hand for Feinberg to shake. Then, to Feinberg’s astonishment, he sees his patient had “what looked like severe chemical burns on his hands; the skin was actually seared away, exposing the muscle and bone” (Feinberg 2). When asked about the condition of his hands, John replies that he was doing some work around the house and had a few “little burns.” Because of damage to a certain part

1. Era I – “Mechanical Medicine” began in the 1860’s. Its focus is on surgical procedures and drugs. The thought was that health and illness are only physical in nature and consciousness is equated to functioning of the brain. Era I thinking in displayed in review of psychiatric care in the early 1900 with the use of frontal lobotomies to cure hysteria. The thought was that performing a surgical procedure on the brain will remove the area that is causing the Hysteria. Era I focuses on performing a procedure or providing a medication to fix the body physically, while Era III takes into account the patients perception of health, their stats of mind and their support

The sound of the sirens were trapped in her head. Meanwhile, she sat in the emergency room waiting area praying for good news. “How did this happen?” she thought over and over again. After what seemed like forever, the neurosurgeon came out and broke the news to her and her family. Her father’s car accident had broken his spine in three different places, broke a couple of ribs, and left him bruised and scratched all over. The neurosurgeon said it was a miracle that he had no actual brain damage. The neurosurgeon operated on her father’s spine and put him back together with a rod. After the surgery, she couldn’t thank the neurosurgeon enough for all she had done for her father. From that day on, she knew she wanted to be a neurosurgeon so she could help people the way a neurosurgeon helped her father. Neurosurgeons are everyday heroes that have worked very hard to get to where they are, for this

Walter Freeman. He believed there was something physically wrong with the brain that causes various mental illnesses. In this sense, a person was born with the illness rather than developing it over time. Many people agreed with him as they beleived that mental illnesses were just like any other illness. This breakthrough came in the form of a lobotomy, where Dr. Freeman would cut open the forehead and attempt to fix the cerebral flaw. This eventually evolved into the transorbital lobotomy, a procedure in which he inserted a pick through the orbital cavity, (the holes in which the eyes lay) since this cavity led to a direct line to the brain. The doctor would the poke and prod at the brain until he felt that he had corrected the issue. Initially, this procedure worked spectacularly, the public viewed Dr. Freeman’s procedure as a miracle, but this ballyhoo did not last long. Although it is true that the lobotomy offered a permanent cure for a select few, the vast majority experienced a relapse, that is, they returned to their initial behavior which prompted the lobotomy in the first place. There were even some patients who were permanently changed for the worse. These patients woke up from the procedure and were generally unresponsive, they didn't want to do anything, the lobotomy, and Dr. Freeman, had turned them into a shell of their former selves.

Siegel provides enlightening guidance in his chapter through using clearly explained analogies, metaphors, diagrams, emerging neuroscience research, and spiritual wisdom. In Part I of this novel, the author primarily focuses on the structure and bountiful abilities of the brain, such as neuroplasticity, “the term used to describe the capacity for creating new neural connections and growing new neurons in response to experience” (5). These new neural connections make way for change, by not only strengthening the areas that one may be weak in, but by also learning how to make better and more conscious choices when faced with turbulence. In Part II, Siegel explores the real-world accounts of this turbulence and how patients are able to utilize mindsight to change how they focus their attention by finding a

On December 23, 2014, neurosurgeon Jeffrey Leonard resected a brain tumor in a ten year old girl that was previously thought to be inoperable. Although it took two operations, due to modern technology and education Dr. Leonard was successful. The girl fully recovered from surgery and was awake and responsive the next morning. Modern surgeons’ knowledge of the human brain has evolved immensely through the ages. The first brain surgeons did not have anywhere near the knowledge that we possess today, but it is because of them that the current treatment of neurological problems is so advanced. Doctors can now perform advanced procedures such as the resection of tumors and clipping of aneurysms all while a patient is numbed and unconscious when previously treatment was a painful shot in the dark. Neurosurgery has evolved not only through extensive research of anatomy and a change in religious perspective, but came hand in hand with the development of anesthetics and the world’s major advancements in radiology and imaging.

Carson was no ordinary man. His intricate way of thinking was like no other. One of the most obvious and well-known achievement is his concept of incorporating lasers in neurosurgery to nullify complexities faced whilst operating. He knew there was an easier way and took the initiative to act upon his ideas. Comparing Carson’s accomplishments and initial circumstances serves as living proof that anyone can be an influential figure in our society.