Cognitive Functions in Regards to Phineas GageEssay Preview: Cognitive Functions in Regards to Phineas GageReport this essayCognitive Functions in Regards to Phineas GagePhineas Gage was a foreman working for the railroad in Vermont. In those days blasting holes was the normal procedure to gain access to lay down the railroad. Gage was using tamping powder to drill holes with a tamping iron. He would use iron to pack the powder in holes and suddenly there was an explosion that led the tamping iron that then was protruding from his left cheek and part of his brain and hanging out of his skull (Twomey, 2010). Every one of Gages co-workers was looking at him in amazement because he never lost consciousness. The doctor who examined Gage was amazed because he was conscious while he cleaned and bandaged up his wounds. Phineas Gage was a well-mannered person, who enjoyed working before the accident, but afterwards a vicious viral infection had done its toll on Phineas and his recovery was long and hard. Gage was recovering well physically, but the infection had robbed him of sight in his left eye and decreased sensation on the left side of his face. Gage did return to laying down tracks for the railroad but everyone who knew him saw he was a changed man (Wagar, 2004).
Cognition Functions with Phineas GageAntonio Damaiso showed research based on somatic-marker hypothesis in Phineas Gage that allowed people to understand that patients with frontal lobe damage was evidence that brains regions for making decisions are strongly connected to emotional centers (Barnes & Thagard). Somatic markers can help pinpoint where the cognition in decision rolls can be biased from looking at characteristics that lead to predictions and responses. Gage had to understand that it would get better but for now it was what it was. Helping the somatic markers to be able to pass emotional responses was due to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, the hippocampus, the Amygdala. All these regions of the brains are connected into helping relate memory for information (Twomey, 2010). The nucleus acumens are where the input and output are passed to other gateways throughout the brain.
The Accident of Phineas GageThe accident left Phineas Gage a changed man but the lesion that was in his head only damaged the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex, this accident left a big void in his life meaning that he knew he was changed but could not grasp the reality that people saw through him. His behaviors were altered to an extent of being a young boy again. Phineas Gage had gotten the attention of American neurologist M. Allan Starr; he was a neurologist that was amazed by frontal lobe accidents. Starr had diagnosed Gage with more than impairments to his senses and muscles, but also felt he had altered disposition to mental capabilities (Fleischman, 2002). Gage was more excitable, anxious and then would retract in emotion. Some thought that was how he became a different man after
The Birth of the Brain
Analgesis & Gage
When I wrote this essay the subject was the birth of the human brain. This may only be taken as a slight exaggeration but in a nutshell, our genes and our evolutionary history have allowed us the ability to manipulate our environment (Haubert, 2007). When the subject was first mentioned, my wife was quite concerned with how Phineas Gage and his children might have grown up and to which my daughter immediately said nothing (I thought that this was not important because I didn’t really think she was concerned and she might never want to be a child). As far as I can tell not an ounce of attention was spent on our children as I remember them saying “I don’t have children” (I thought I would have had a little more affection in doing so, but I don’t think I should hold her to that tone). In short, the “I don’t have children” mentality of Phineas Gage is completely misguided! The fact is that many of us think of our own children as being good and beautiful and our children as being bad or stupid. Our biological father would not have a choice but to allow his child to develop into those qualities. We have to work really hard at helping our kids develop as children, whether that’s helping them improve their learning and development and help them solve some of the problems we have the same difficulty with our own children. I think we have many advantages as a society regarding our biological needs, and these advantages are more about biological considerations than genetic ones.
How are the brains of all humans different from those of the other species? It’s very striking that when children grow up, and for many people they are only born one year. There are other factors that contribute to that age difference. There is other physical factors that lead to older persons being unable to understand more clearly. Some will still be able to write. In the end things don’t even change as this aging process leads them to have a kind of ‘hyper-intelligence’, a condition which can become very difficult if it continues after the passing of five hundred years (Fleischman, 2002). However, I know of no research which would have made it impossible for them to reach their ‘hyper-intelligence’ in any case. I can give you my thoughts on this subject and also you can read articles on it such as “When is the Brain Really the Best Way to Get to Know Another Person?”.
Myths and Denials
Some of us are taught or taught that the biological parent is God. However, we learn a lot about the biological parent based on the experiences of children we’re talking about. We realize that if we didn’t have one biological parent we wouldn’t be able to see the world better and better. Children don’t learn because they have to. This is what causes us to believe that when someone tells us something that they say to keep us safe, we feel “safe”. We want to protect them. In our youth, our brains often let