Phineas Gage was a 19th century railroad construction worker who survived a catastrophic brain injury in 1848 when an iron tamping rod was blasted through his skull during an accident. Although he physically recovered, people who knew him reported dramatic changes in his personality, behavior, and decision-making, suggesting that damage to his frontal lobes affected his ability to regulate emotions and social behavior. His case became one of the earliest and most influential examples showing tha