The Hole in the Mind

"The Hole in the Mind – The man who survived a crowbar through the brain" tells the story of Phineas Gage, the most famous patient in the history of neuroscience. In 1848, an accidental explosion drove a tamping iron straight through the railroad foreman's skull, destroying his left frontal lobe. Miraculously, he stood up and spoke minutes later. But the man who survived was no longer Phineas Gage. Author Gregory West explores how this gruesome accident provided the first hard evidence that personality is physically located in the brain. Before Gage, the mind was seen as a spiritual entity; after Gage, it became a biological machine. The book tracks his subsequent life as a drifter and a circus attraction, shedding light on the primitive state of 19th-century medicine. "The Hole in the Mind" is a biography of an injury. It examines the fragile nature of "self" and how easily our character, morality, and impulse control can be altered by physical damage. It is the story of how a tragic accident birthed modern brain science.