Gage was No Longer Gage

 

 I have recounted the story of Phineas T. Gage before and even though it happened in 1848 it was an important event in that it was the first case suggesting that damage to specific regions of the brain might affect personality and behavior. Some of the best clues to how the normal brain operates come from studying the results of injuries to various locations in the brain and the Gage case was a benchmark. In 1848, Phineas T. Gage, a railway worker, suffered a horrific injury when an explosion sent an iron rod slicing through the left frontal lobe of his brain.  Miraculously, Gage, a kind and well liked person before the accident, regained his health and well being -- with only one major exception.  After his recovery Gage's personality changed so dramatically that, as his close friends said, "Gage was No longer Gage."  He went from friendly and helpful to angry and quarrelsome; a person who was once reliable, trustworthy, and socially gracious became unreliable, vulgar and an all-together belligerent man with nothing to be belligerent about. In 1860, 12 years later he died of a seizure at the age of 37.

For Gage, the normal system of checks and balances, the finely tuned No / Go System that allows us to make our way though this world was shredded.  But this was just one early case.  Since then, a bulk of research [see Antonio Damasio's book Descartes Error] supports the fact that "something in the brain was concerned specifically with unique human properties, among them the ability to anticipate the future and plan accordingly..."

Thus part of your brains planning mechanism is the system of signals used by your subconscious to endorse or nullify a particular plan. Take for example a plan that involves hitting a high, 220 yard hook over water. Even though your conscious mind wants to do it, your subconscious mind can cast a veto in the form of a NO signal if you don’t have that shot in your repertory–  the NO/GO is not in words but in feelings. You may feel unsure or decisive, uneasy or calm, worried or confident, distressed or relaxed about the plan you are about to execute.  This message system, an important skill of a healthy brain, modifies your plans enough so they become effective in reaching your goals – it’s an important skill to be able to turn NO’s into Go’s. In the example above you’d put away your three metal and lay up with a nine iron.