page_title: Phineas Gage
hierarchical_section_title: Phineas Gage
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of cased-daguerreotype studio portrait of brain-injury survivor Phineas P. Gage (1823–1860) shown holding the tamping iron which injured him. Includes view of original embossed brass mat. From the collection of Jack and Beverly Wilgus. Like most daguerreotypes, the image seen in this artifact is laterally (left-right) reversed; therefore a second, compensating reversal has been applied to produce this image, so as to show Gage as he appeared in life. That this shows Gage correctly is confirmed by contemporaneous medical reports describing his injuries, as well as from the injuries visible in Gage's skull and life mask, still preserved. Digitally enhanced and manually retouched (see notes on talk page).
context_page_description: Phineas P. Gage was an American railroad construction foreman. He is known for his unlikely survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe. This caused effects on his personality and behavior over the remaining 12 years of his life.
  Gage was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He died on May 21, 1860 in the San Francisco Bay Area from status epilepticus, aged 36.
context_section_description: Phineas P. Gage (July 9, 1823 – May 21, 1860) was an American railroad construction foreman. He is known for his unlikely survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe. This caused effects on his personality and behavior over the remaining 12 years of his life.
  Gage was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He died on May 21, 1860 in the San Francisco Bay Area from status epilepticus (a form of a seizure), aged 36.
caption: Gage holding the iron that impaled his skull in 1849
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