Three Clinical Cases That Changed Our View Of The Brain

Neuroscience has made great strides thanks to the investigation of common and sometimes very exceptional clinical cases. Some of these cases are especially famous because they have vastly improved our understanding of how the brain works.

Many people are hesitant to admit that what they call the “soul” or the “heart” actually has to do with the processes that take place in the brain. In this article, we discuss some clinical cases that have become classic case studies. They are valuable because they have somehow provided evidence that the brain is involved in our psychic world.

We are still very far from a complete understanding of the brain. But step by step we are making slow progress. We unravel some mysteries and discover others later. The three clinical cases we describe in this article deserve to be remembered. Because they have contributed a lot to our knowledge of the brain.

Phineas Gage

Phineas Gage was an American railroad worker who had a strange accident. In September of 1848, the young worker was preparing to blow up a boulder. He then made a mistake and the explosion happened earlier than expected.

The result of his miscalculation was that Phineas was thrown 20 meters away and impaled by an iron bar. It went past his jaw, through his face and came out at the top of his head.

dr. Harlow was Phineas’s doctor. He left a record of what happened. For he was very impressed with the fact that Phineas remained conscious after the accident and showed no sign that he had lost touch with reality. The recovery period lasted only ten weeks. In addition, at no point did he seem to lose his cognitive abilities.

After recovery, Gage simply returned to work. But he started to show changes in his personality. Before that he was a quiet person. But now, among other things, he was extremely irritable. This is one of those clinical cases that is now a classic example of how behavior patterns and even personality are connected to the physical brain.

However, some studies state that the effects of his brain trauma and his facial deformity have not been sufficiently investigated in detail. Because some researchers believe that these factors may also have had a major influence on the change in his personality.

Patient HM

This is yet another remarkable clinical case in history that has had a huge impact on psychology. The initials stand for Henry Molaison, known to many as Patient HM. When he was 27 years old, he underwent a surgical procedure to remove certain parts of his brain. His hippocampus and part of his amygdala were removed to cure his epilepsy.

The results of the surgery were surprising. Patient HM was unable to store new memories. He could remember everything that had happened before the surgery, but nothing that happened afterwards.

So he lived continuously in the present, forgetting everything that happened immediately after something. For example, if someone entered the room, he greeted them. But when they left and returned shortly after, he didn’t recognize them.

Throughout his life, HM was always surrounded by doctors. But he never regained the ability to form new memories. He died in 2009. Being one of the most famous clinical cases, the world could see the autopsy of his brain via a stream on the internet.

During this procedure, they discovered that the entorhinal cortex was the most damaged part of his brain. This is the same area that deteriorates in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Notable Clinical Cases in Psychology: Donald

Donald killed his girlfriend while under the influence of phencyclidine (PCP). But he couldn’t remember. He was then diagnosed with biological amnesia. Years later, he was cycling on a road near the hospital. Suddenly he was hit by a car and he fell into a coma. When he awoke from the coma, something extraordinary happened.

Donald began to remember the murder. He had uncontrollable flashbacks over and over. He continually replayed the murder in his mind. In addition, he also had strokes.

Donald is one of the most mysterious clinical cases known. Science is still unable to explain why his lost memory returned. Even less is known about why the memory was expressed in such a haunting way.

In the history of psychology, these are just some of the most remarkable clinical cases. Each case study has advanced, sometimes by accident, in our understanding of this incredible organ, our brain.

Unfortunately, the people who made these advances possible suffered from the effects of their abnormal brains. But that’s exactly why they left a great gift to the rest of humanity.