Topic: Phineas Gage Project

Paper details:

Students are to collect background research on Phineas Gage’s famous and fortunate brain injury. Once you have gained a thorough understanding of the nature and consequences of his injury, students are to create a PowerPoint presentation about Gage’s accident and life. The PowerPoint should include details of his injury as well as the resulting changes in his behavior and life. The central focus of the presentation, however, should not be what actually happened to Gage, but what might have happened to him had the injury occurred elsewhere in his brain. Students are to apply what they have learned about the brain in Chapter 2 and design an alternate trajectory of the steel rod that they believe might have been better for Gage. The alternate trajectory should be, optimistically, non-fatal and must be of a similar nature to the actual injury (a 1 inch steel rod that passed entirely through the brain). The student is to discuss the alternate trajectory, the regions of the brain affected, and the resulting behavioral and lifestyle outcomes that could be expected. The underlying question of this presentation should be, “How would Phineas Gage’s life have been different if he had experienced a different non-fatal brain injury?” The presentations should demonstrate a thorough understanding of the brain and the ability to critically evaluate injuries and potential results. Please remember to cite the textbook and any other sources you use.
Guidelines:
1) The presentation should be no less than ten slides long.
2) The presentation should include discussion of Gage’s actual injury and life.
3) The presentation should include discussion of Gage’s alternate injury and life.
4) Pictures and illustrations should be included, where needed.
5) The presentation should include comparison between Gage’s actual and alternate injury and life.

( See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4oiffFT3rQ&feature=youtu.be)