MM>  From: Christopher Whittle <[log in to unmask]>
MM>  Subject:      Re: exhibits on the brain and mental health

MM>  On the mental health side, the Harvard Medical School museum has a
MM>  display of Phineas T. Gage's skull.  Mr. Gage was tamping dynamite
MM>  with a long steel rod when the dynamite exploded propelling the rod
MM>  through his skull.  The label explains that Mr. Gage recovered
completely
MM>  except for his new predisposition to swear frequently.  This is a much
MM>  viewed exhibit and people typically read the whole label.  You may
have
MM>  seen Mr. Gage's skull in Discover or some other scientific popular
magazine.

Ironically, A. Damasio, a renowned neurobiologist at U. Iowa (not far, I
assume, from Iowa  City) features Phineas Gage & his brain injury in his
recent book _Descartes' Error_, a very decent attempt to explain to those
of us who are not neurobiologists, how his research and that of others
sheds light on the old mind-body problem.  It's also a great discussion of
Gage's injury and the use of a century-old medical mystery to illuminate
new ones and answer some questions.  This is just FYU, although such an
approach to an exhibit would be a keen one, in my humble opinion.