The Role of the Brain in Cognitive Functions: A Case Study

Perhaps one of the most well known cases in cognitive psychology is that of Phineas Gage. A man who suffered from an injury to his prefrontal lobes thirty years before the field of Psychology even began (Moulin, 2006). However, psychologists’ continue to study his brain and the effects of his injury and its role in cognitive functions years later.

Phineas Gage, a 25 year old construction worker is known as one of the most famous patients that suffered from a traumatic brain injury. While working at a railroad site, an iron tamping rod (43 inches long, 1.25 diameter) went through his left cheek, through his brain, and out the skull. He surprisingly ended up surviving this traumatic injury. After a month in the hospital, he was back out on the street. Once a nice, caring person, Phineas turned into an aggressive man who could not even keep a job. Just like Phineas Gage, a TBI can potentially change everything. Brain studies on traumatic brain injuries are increasing every year. Even though the brain is very functional, brain injuries can have many physical, emotional, social, and

Phineas Gage, a 25 year old construction worker is known as one of the most famous patients that suffered from a traumatic brain injury. While working at a railroad site, an iron tamping rod (43 inches long, 1.25 diameter) went through his left cheek, through his brain, and out the skull. He surprisingly ended up surviving this traumatic injury. After a month in the hospital, he was back out on the street. Once a nice, caring person, Phineas turned into an aggressive man who could not even keep a job. Just like Phineas Gage, a TBI can potentially change everything. Brain studies on traumatic brain injuries are increasing every year. Even though the brain is very functional, brain injuries can have many physical, emotional, social, and

I have always had a passion and interest in working with the unknown. When I was in high school, I always made sure I was taking science classes that interested me, and would help me decide on what I wanted to major in college. I chose neuroscience as my major because it is a subject that continues to fascinate me. Neuroscience is the study of how the nervous system develops, its structure, and what it does. I want to focus on the brain and its impact on behavior and cognitive functions. I want to go into clinical neuroscience (looking at the disorders of the nervous system) or cognitive neuroscience, which studies the higher cognitive functions and underlying neural bases. With a neuroscience major, I would like to pursue a career in clinical research, do research for the National Institute of Health, work for the CDC and specialize in neurological disease, and/or run a clinical research project in another country. I want to pursue a career in one of these areas because I want to dedicate my knowledge, skills, and time to helping people and the world of science. I want my work to make a positive impact on society and be beneficial for the forthcoming generations. I want to help people and discover new things that will help those in need. I am motivated every day to continue working hard by realizing there are still more things to be discovered and that it could be done by me.

In addition, the limbic system is responsible for our perception of other emotions, both positive and negative, which explains the mood altering properties of many drugs. The cerebral cortex is divided into areas that control specific functions. Different areas process information from our senses, enabling us to see, feel, hear, and taste. The front part of the cortex, the frontal cortex or forebrain, is the thinking center of the brain, it powers our ability to think, plan, solve problems, and make decisions.

Cognitive functioning is when an individual has the ability to use mental processes to learn, reason, problem solve, make decisions, and comprehend. It also helps in focusing your attention and remembering events. Without cognitive processing

Phineas Gage, a railroad worker, was accidently struck by a piece of iron through the frontal lobe after an explosion he set himself (Phineas Gage Information). The iron piece shredded the front left side of his brain when it entered under his cheek bone and exited out the top of his head (Phineas Gage Information). Phineas was treated after the explosion by Dr. John Martyn Harlow (Phineas Gage Information). The treatment by Dr. Harlow allowed Phineas to return back to his house only ten weeks after the incident; which is a significantly short time considering the trauma from his accident and the medical advances at this time were not nearly what they are today (Phineas Gage Information). The accounts of his personality change seem to have differencing opinions (Phineas Gage Information).

The six primary structures of the brain are the Brain Stem, the Cerebellum, the Occipital Lobe, the Temporal Lobe, the Parietal Lobe, and the Frontal Lobe. The Brain Stem is underneath the limbic system. It is responsible for the basic functions such as breathing, heartbeat, and blood pressure. The Cerebellum is behind the spinal cord. Its function is coordination for movement, posture, and balance. The Occipital Lobe is at the backside of the brain. Its function is processing visual information, such as color, shape and motion. The Temporal Lobe is over the ears and its function involves hearing, language processing and memory. The Parietal Lobe is at the

"Cognitive brain functions constitute the ability to work with information in a meaningful way, apply information that has already been gained, perform preferential changes, and the ability for someone to change opinions about that information" (Cognitive Brain Function, 2016). Psychology teaches the theory that cognitive brain function are formed from human memories and affect how much information is taken in by the human being. Cognitive functionality has also been associated with the function related intelligence, mind, and ability to learn. This functionality of the brain sets the limits for a human to understand, comprehend, and apply their own thoughts to an idea to absorb it into their memory storage. By being able to perform these functions, a person is able to plan and organize their thoughts accordingly.

Today, Gage’s story is a fixture for any student of psychology or neurology. After his death in 1860, Gage’s skull and the iron rod were donated to the Warren Anatomical Museum of Harvard University where they remain on display today. So, on a warm Boston summer day, I made my way to the museum to see the skull and rod for

The brain is a very complicated and delicate. If even the slightest part of your brain is damaged there could be major effects. When Phineas Gage lost part of his brain his life and personality completely changed. Before being injured he was a hard-working, nice, and respected man. After the injury nobody respected him because he would always curse at people. The iron rod went through Gage’s frontal lobe. The frontal lobe is a part of the cerebrum and the cerebrum controls many things. The cerebrum is the part of the brain that controls important cognitive skills in humans, such as emotional expression, problem solving, memory, language, and judgment. One ability that Gage lost was his ability to problem solve. After being injured, if Phineas

It is a wrinkled surface that interprets sensations from ones body that includes sight, sound, and smell. This generates thoughts, problems, and controls voluntary movements, alongside storing memories. Alzheimer’s will start to designate this section of the brain causing stored memories to be compromised. The Cerebral Cortex consists of four lobes: the frontal, the parietal, temporal and the occipital lobe. Visual processing takes place in the occipital lobe, sitting at the back skull. The temporal lobe processes sound and language, which contains the hippocampus and amygdala. Greatly impacting memory, emotion, and receptivity. Lastly the parietal lobe gathers all senses and is crucial for spatial orientation and

While working on a railroad line, Phineas Gage’s skull was pierced by a metal rod from an explosion. However, instead of being killed, Phineas “was immediately able to sit up and speak, and after the wound healed he returned to work” (Myers, 2014, p. 56). This case forced scientists to rethink the parts and functions of the brain. Upon hearing this, I was amazed by the

The Oxford Dictionary defines the brain as an organ of soft nervous tissue contained in the skull of vertebrates. This part of the body has three important features. These features help the brain carries out its functions. The three important features are the cerebrum, the cerebellum, and the brainstem.

Our mind is made up of many different departments such as the prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and primary visual and auditory cortex that control different movements, emotions and sometimes behavior. In the Phinenas Gage case his behavior started to change after his traumatic accident when a iron rod entered through his head, through his cheekbone and exiting through is forehead that caused damage to his orbitofrontal cortex and eventually disconnecting other individuals and with things such as manners