Episode 90: A Teacup Full of Brain

This week, Anna and Bonnie try to wrap their brains around the story of Phineas Gage, a construction foreman whose custom tamping rod took a little trip through his frontal lobe. The gals discuss how in the world Phineas was able to survive such a thing, how the accident affected who he was, and how this case has affected what we know about the brain even today. They also try to figure out what exactly made the tamping rod custom. Did he shoot pool with it? Did he use it to fend off wild dogs on his walks home? Only Phineas himself knows (unless the part that held that knowledge got skewered).