Schleim Stephan
Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Theory and History of Psychology, Heymans Institute for Psychological Research, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2022 Apr 28;16:734174. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.734174. eCollection 2022.
Phineas Gage is one of the most famous neurological patients. His case is still described in psychology textbooks and in scientific journal articles. A controversy has been going on about the possible consequences of his accident, destroying part of his prefrontal cortex, particularly with respect to behavioral and personality changes. Earlier studies investigated the accuracy of descriptions in psychology textbooks. This is, to my knowledge, the first analysis of journal articles in this respect. These were investigated with regard to four criteria: Description of (1) personality changes, (2) psychopathy-like behavior, (3) alternative explanations besides the immediate brain damage, and (4) Gage's recovery. 92% of articles described personality changes, 52% of a psychopathy-like kind; only 4% mentioned alternative explanations and 16% described Gage's recovery. The results are discussed in the light of the available historical evidence. The article closes with several suggestions on improving science communication about the famous case.
菲尼亚斯·盖奇是最著名的神经学患者之一。他的病例仍在心理学教科书和科学期刊文章中被描述。关于他那次事故（事故导致其前额叶皮质部分受损）可能产生的后果，尤其是行为和性格变化方面，一直存在争议。早期研究调查了心理学教科书中描述的准确性。据我所知，这是在这方面对期刊文章的首次分析。这些文章依据四个标准进行了调查：（1）性格变化的描述；（2）类似精神病态的行为；（3）除直接脑损伤之外的其他解释；（4）盖奇的康复情况。92%的文章描述了性格变化，52%描述了类似精神病态的性格变化；只有4%提及了其他解释，16%描述了盖奇的康复情况。根据现有的历史证据对结果进行了讨论。文章最后就改进关于这一著名病例的科学传播提出了几点建议。
