Why brain scientists are still obsessed with the curious case of Phineas Gage

Cabinet-card portrait of brain-injury survivor Phineas Gage (1823–1860), shown holding the tamping iron which injured him. Wikimedia
It took an explosion and 13 pounds of iron to usher in the modern era of neuroscience.
In 1848, a 25-year-old railroad worker named Phineas Gage was blowing up rocks to clear the way for a new rail line in Cavendish, Vt. He would drill a hole, place an explosive charge, then pack in sand using a 13-pound metal bar known as a tamping iron.
But in this instance