Buy essay on Role of the Brain in Cognitive Functions

First of all let’s give a definition of a concept “cognitive function”. In Latin “cognitio” means knowledge and generally cognitive functions are the highest brain functions including memory, attention, psychomotor coordination, speech, gnosis, praxis, counting, thinking, orientation, planning and control of higher mental activity. All these functions are controlled by frontal lobes of the cerebral hemispheres.
It is known that even the slightest derangements of the brain can manifest as severe mental disorders. Thus, the lesion area with a few millimeters in diameter depending on its location can lead to the damage of speech, memory, consciousness, perception, etc. If to be more concrete the disorders can be presented by abnormality of the short-term memory and maintenance of the long-term memory, dementia, reduction of concentration, abnormality of criticism, apraxia, acalculia, agnosia, aboulia, depression, difficulties in mastering new knowledge and skills, changes in personality (character, relationship with relatives).
But the literature describes numerous instances in which the psyche was fully maintained after massive brain damages as a result of acute trauma or injury. In this case it is impossible to say that the head was large, the cerebral cortex had remained, and changes in the brain were too slow. To make it clear let’s remember one of the most famous examples.
This classical clinical case is frequently mentioned in a great number of monographs on neurophysiology. In 1848, Phineas Gage, the senior master of the brigade of workers building a railroad near the town of Cavendish (Vermont, USA), laid the powder charge in a hole pierced in the rock, preparing for another blast. Then neglecting the rules of safety measures, ramming the charge, he lowered the heavy rammer ( the iron stick about 1 meter long and 3 centimeters in diameter), it hit the rock, stroke the fire, igniting the powder and a projectile rushed up. On its way, this stick pierced Gage’s brain, entered through his left cheek and went out near the crown.
Phineas Gage’s skull and the iron stick, which pierced his head are in Harvard University now, but their models can be found in almost any American university.
Another man, after such a trauma could instantly die, but it was a miracle, thanks to which this worker went down in history. Less than in an hour after the injury Gage came to consciousness, and then immediately was able to go to the surgeon with the help of his companions and on his way quietly and calmly talked about the hole in his head. In the long run he recovered from the infection which had developed in the wound, and lived another 12 years.
Gage died in 1860 in San Francisco, where medical scientists, making the autopsy of his body, managed to verify this story via direct examination of the damaged brain. As it was turned out not only the left frontal lobe was subjected to severe damage, but the injury extended to the right frontal lobe.
According to some recordings Gage inter vivos with a hole remained a capable person: he did not have any loss of memory and he was able to do his work. Gage’s reduction of mental capacity seemed disproportionately small for a person with such extensive damage of that part of the brain, which had been considered for a log time to be a substrate of higher intellectual processes. Some changes still occurred, but they were unexpected according to the existing theories. Apparently, the features of his personality were mainly affected, rather than mental ability. Before the accident, he was a tactful and level-headed man, a good worker, but now he was undisciplined and disrespectful, often allowed himself to uses rough language and acted regardless of anything. He became stubborn, but changeable and indecisive. Because of these new traits of character it was impossible to trust him the brigade leadership. But he showed no inclination to any work: instead of this, he chose to wander, earning his living showing himself and his rammer.
Disputes why Mr. Gage’s psychics was broken so slightly, do not calm down for almost 160 years. Most of the criticism is concentrated on the fact that there is not a lot of information about Gage’s psyche before the injury. It is possible that the mentality had changed a lot, but the doctors who tested Gage, did not notice it because they did not know it before. Also, some recent articles appeared, where with the help of three-dimensional computer modeling of the skull it was proved that only the left frontal lobe was damaged, while the right one remained intact. In addition, a number of reports about Gage’s mental changes appeared many years after his death, and slightly contradict the lifetime studies of this man’s psyche. It is possible that the story itself with a half-century of debates has acquired many additional details that never existed in reality.

Bibliography
Diamond Adele. (1990). The Development and neural bases of higher cognitive functions. New York Academy of Sciences.

Fleischman John. (2004). Phineas Gage: A Gruesome But True Story About Brain Science. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

WordPress.com. (2006, December 4). The incredible case of Phineas Gage.

Quinlan Philip, Dyson Ben. (2008). Cognitive Psychology. Pearson Education.