History: How this man and a wayward crowbar changed the face of neuroscience forever

The curious case of Phineas Gage, who took an iron rod to the brain and lived to tell the tale
Phineas Gage

This bizarre story from the annals of medical history has ‘occupational health and safety lawsuit’ written all over it.

A foreman for the American railroad in 1848, Phineas Gage’s bad workday would see him become a worldwide clinical curiosity and one of neuroscience’s most famous patients.