Ila Ann Kameh

Advanced General Psychology

Week 7 Assignment 2

October 26, 2008

Brain damage is the impairment caused by an injury to the brain

that is “characterized in terms of three functional systems(Gage, 2008)

those functional systems are usually involved in combination with each

other when brain damage occurs.

   Function             Purpose  

   Intellect            The information-handling aspect of behavior      Emotional        Concerns feelings and motivations      Control             How behavior is expressed  

      (Gage, 2008)

  

On 13th September, 1848, 25-year-old Gage was working on a

railroad in Vermont when Gage was “preparing for an explosion by

compacting a bore with explosive powder using a tamping iron” that

caused sparks to ignite the powder that caused the 3ft. 8 inch rod to

be thrust into Gage’s skull, entering under his left cheek and exiting

through the top of his head.

(Mo, 2006)

The Frontal Lobes which are part of the cerebrum or cortex is the largest part of the human brain. When injury occurs in one specific part of the brain it may cause a disruption of an activity in another portion of the brain. There is evidence showing that due to the location of the frontal lobes this is the most common area of injury.

The left frontal lobe is involved in controlling language-related movement, whereas the right frontal lobe plays a role in non-verbal abilities. This is not an absolute rule; it is clinically believed that both lobes are involved in nearly all behaviors. The Frontal Lobes are our human emotional control center, and home to our personality.

(Gage, 2008)

Social behavior problems are one of the most common effects

of frontal lobe damage that involves the individuals

personality after suffering from brain injury in the frontal

lobe region.

(Gage, 2008)

   Penetrating Brain Injury    

This type of injury is the result of an outside object being thrust into the brain with an impact forceful enough to crack through the skull and penetrate the brain. The damage that has occurred will go along the path of the object thrust into the brain.

Closed Head Injury  

This injury is the result of being struck hard by an object such as a blow to the head, windshield or dashboard during a car wreck.

PersonalityHigher brain functions: thought, actionsExecutive FunctionsLanguage usageWord association & meaningReasoning, PlanningParts of speechProblem solvingMemory, JudgmentsInitiation, SpontaneityEmotional response & stabilityTracking & Sense of selfReaction to self & the environmentMovement, Impulse controlVoluntary/Planned motor behaviorsSequence of motor actionsVoluntary movement of: eyes, trunk, limbs,

several muscles used for speechSocial behaviorMemory for habits control

Changes in personality and social behavior Attention - difficulty focusing on tasks Concentration difficulties Impaired strategy formation & planning, Diminished abstract reasoningDifficulty in problem solvingExpressive Spoke fewer words (left frontal lesions) or excessive words (right frontal lesions)Perseveration w/o conscious awareness Loss of spontaneity in interacting with others. Loss of flexibility in thinking Mood swings  Loss of simple movement of body parts Inappropriate behavior with difficulty using social cues and information to direct, control, or change personal behavior.

Depending upon the area of the brain damaged would determine what symptoms of damage a person would have after the accident.

Mild bump, bruise (contusion), or cut.

Moderate to severe in nature due to a concussion, deep cut or open wound, fractured skull bone(s) or from internal bleeding and damage to the brain.

In the United States traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death for persons under age 45. A traumatic brain injury occurs every 15 seconds.

Moreover studies show that “approximately 5 million Americans currently suffer some form of disabling traumatic brain disorder. The leading causes of TBI are motor vehicle accidents, falls, and sports injuries.

(Igou, 2001-2009)

Studies show that patients with brain related injuries can relearn daily tasks performance through the use of mental imagery. The study showed improvements in both the trained and untrained tasks.

Other areas of improvement are as follows:improvement in task performance therapeutic effects on skill relearning, maintenance and generalization. Enhancement of their day-to-day functioning. increase in the attention and sequential processing functions

“Mental imagery appears to be effective at enhancing the task relearning of subjects after brain injury. “he skills acquired under this treatment regime can be retained and then generalized to other tasks. Further research should conduct clinical controlled trials to gather evidence on its efficacy at promoting functional regain in people suffering from neurological disorders (KP, 2004 )

.”

(KP, 2004 )

Harlow -the left hemisphere had been affected and that the right was 'intact.‘

Bigelow was equally clear that there was some right-sided damage. 

Dupuy accepted that the trajectory was left sided but placed it less frontally, claiming that the more posterior motor and language areas should have been destroyed.  That Gage had no motor impairment or aphasia was prime evidence for Dupuy's anti-localisation arguments.,

Ferrier- the passage was not so posterior and that both motor and language areas had been spared.  He also concluded that the only damage was to the left hemisphere.

(Macmillan, 2009)

Cobb- both hemispheres were involved with more damage on the left than on the right.  

Damasio -found the damage to be even more frontal and right sided.

Ratiu damage was limited to the left frontal lobe, did not extend to the right side, and did not affect the ventricular system or vital blood vessels inside the skull.

(Macmillan, 2009)

Eriksson, B. (2008, June 9). The Methods of Ethics. Conflicts Built to Last. Retrieved October 26, 2009, from

http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00004058/01/Eriksson_Conflicts_built_to_last.pdf

Gage, P. (2008, February 5). Type of Injury. Retrieved October 24, 2009, from Phineas Gage: The Person:

http://www.phineaspgagetheperson.com/id28.html

Igou, S. (2001-2009). HOW CAN THE BRAIN BE INJURED? Retrieved October 21, 2009, from

BrainInjury.com: http://www.braininjury.com/injured.html

KP, L. ( 2004 , November 18). Mental imagery for relearning of people after brain injury. Retrieved October

26, 2009, from PubMed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15545212

Macmillan, M. (2009, July 29). The Damage to Phineas Gage's Brain. Retrieved October 27, 2009, from

Deakin University: http://www.deakin.edu.au/hmnbs/psychology/gagepage/Pgdamage.php

Mo. (2006, December 4). The incredible case of Phineas Gage. Retrieved October 26, 2009, from

Neurophilosophy at ScienceBlogs.com: http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/12/04/the-

incredible-case-of-phineas-gage/