Phineas Gage's head injury, 1848 (N025/0022) Long Sleeve T-Shirt

Phineas Gage's head injury. This lithograph, published in 1850, shows the head injury to Phineas Gage (1823-1860) that led to important advances in understanding how the human brain works. Gage was working on the construction of a railway in Vermont, USA, when, on 13 September 1848, an accident with an explosive charge sent a tamping iron (1 metre long and 3.2 centimetres wide) into his head. It passed under his left cheekbone, through the left frontal lobe of his brain, and out through the top of his head. Gage initially appeared to make a full recovery, but it was later reported that his personality had been changed by the accident. Artwork from The American Journal of the Medical Sciences.