Case Studies
Phineas Gage: London Riots 2011:
1848 Phineas Gage was working on Thousands of people rioted in cities and towns
construction when an explosion of dynamite across England, which saw looting and arson,
drove a tamping iron right through his skull. as well as mass deployment of police and the
He survived and was able to function fairly deaths of five people.
normally but the accident did appear to Steve Reicher and Cliff Stott studied the
affect his personality. events and argued that the ‘mob’ did not
Before the accident, he was hard-working, behave in an unruly manner.
responsible and popular, but after he ‘They don’t simply go wild but actually tend
became restless, indecisive and swore a lot. to target particular shops and particular types
This case study is important for brain of people. The patterns of what they attack
surgery as it showed what parts of the brain and don’t attack reveals something about
could be removed without having a fatal they way they see the world and their
effect. grievances about the world’. - Furlong 2011
It indicated that the frontal lobe is important
on aspects of behaviour like Psychosurgery -
performing There are ethical
conscientiousness.
operations on the issues with his case,
He returned to his job and led a normal life, brain to treat he cannot remember
suggesting that the personality changes psychological he gave consent.
were only temporary and shows the validity disorders.
of the report.
Henry Molaison (hm):
Was born in 1926 and died 2008.
He had mostly a normal childhood until his 16th birthday when he experienced his fist major
epileptic fit. He had experienced mild seizures from the age of 7 as a result from a bicycle accident
but now his fits became more uncontrollable.
By the age of 27 his fits were so severe he was no longer able to work.
HM was referred to Dr William Scoville for surgery to treat his seizures. In 1953 he drilled 2 holes in
HM’s skull and inserted a silver straw deep inside the brain and sucked most of the hippocampi
out.
His epilepsy had seen to get slightly better but he obtained significant memory loss. He lost
memories 10 years prior to the surgery and he lost the ability to form new long term memories.
For many years he reported his age was 27 and that the year was 1953. He was intensely studied
for around 50 years by more than 100 researchers. When he died, his brain was preserved and
sliced into 2401 sections to create an atlas of his brain.
Overall, his intelligence was unimpaired and his personality seemed unchanged.
His short term memory could hold things for 20s before he forgot and he couldn’t learn new motor
skills.
His semantic memory was severely affected.
Phineas Gage: London Riots 2011:
1848 Phineas Gage was working on Thousands of people rioted in cities and towns
construction when an explosion of dynamite across England, which saw looting and arson,
drove a tamping iron right through his skull. as well as mass deployment of police and the
He survived and was able to function fairly deaths of five people.
normally but the accident did appear to Steve Reicher and Cliff Stott studied the
affect his personality. events and argued that the ‘mob’ did not
Before the accident, he was hard-working, behave in an unruly manner.
responsible and popular, but after he ‘They don’t simply go wild but actually tend
became restless, indecisive and swore a lot. to target particular shops and particular types
This case study is important for brain of people. The patterns of what they attack
surgery as it showed what parts of the brain and don’t attack reveals something about
could be removed without having a fatal they way they see the world and their
effect. grievances about the world’. - Furlong 2011
It indicated that the frontal lobe is important
on aspects of behaviour like Psychosurgery -
performing There are ethical
conscientiousness.
operations on the issues with his case,
He returned to his job and led a normal life, brain to treat he cannot remember
suggesting that the personality changes psychological he gave consent.
were only temporary and shows the validity disorders.
of the report.
Henry Molaison (hm):
Was born in 1926 and died 2008.
He had mostly a normal childhood until his 16th birthday when he experienced his fist major
epileptic fit. He had experienced mild seizures from the age of 7 as a result from a bicycle accident
but now his fits became more uncontrollable.
By the age of 27 his fits were so severe he was no longer able to work.
HM was referred to Dr William Scoville for surgery to treat his seizures. In 1953 he drilled 2 holes in
HM’s skull and inserted a silver straw deep inside the brain and sucked most of the hippocampi
out.
His epilepsy had seen to get slightly better but he obtained significant memory loss. He lost
memories 10 years prior to the surgery and he lost the ability to form new long term memories.
For many years he reported his age was 27 and that the year was 1953. He was intensely studied
for around 50 years by more than 100 researchers. When he died, his brain was preserved and
sliced into 2401 sections to create an atlas of his brain.
Overall, his intelligence was unimpaired and his personality seemed unchanged.
His short term memory could hold things for 20s before he forgot and he couldn’t learn new motor
skills.
His semantic memory was severely affected.
