My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey

by Jill Bolte Taylor

Overview

"Transformative...[Taylor's] experience...will shatter [your] own perception of the world."—ABC News

The astonishing New York Times bestseller that chronicles how a brain scientist's own stroke led to enlightenment

On December 10, 1996, Jill Bolte Taylor, a thirty-seven- year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist experienced a massive stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain. As she observed her mind deteriorate to the point that she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life-all within four hours-Taylor alternated between the euphoria of the intuitive and kinesthetic right brain, in which she felt a sense of complete well-being and peace, and the logical, sequential left brain, which recognized she was having a stroke and enabled her to seek help before she was completely lost. It would take her eight years to fully recover.

For Taylor, her stroke was a blessing and a revelation. It taught her that by "stepping to the right" of our left brains, we can uncover feelings of well-being that are often sidelined by "brain chatter." Reaching wide audiences through her talk at the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference and her appearance on Oprah's online Soul Series, Taylor provides a valuable recovery guide for those touched by brain injury and an inspiring testimony that inner peace is accessible to anyone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101213971
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/12/2008
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	39,663
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist who teaches at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Bloomington, Indiana. She is the National Spokesperson for the Mentally Ill for the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center (Brain Bank) and the Consulting Neuroantomist for the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute. Since 1993 she has been an active member of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Her story has been featured on the PBS program Understanding Amazing Brain, among others. She was interviewed on NPR’s Infinite Mind and ABC News, and was named one of The 100 of the World’s Most Influential People of 2008 in Time Magazine.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Transformative...[Taylor's] experience...will shatter [your] own perception of the world."
-ABC News

"[Dr. Taylor] brings a deep personal understanding to something she long studied: that the two lobes of the brain have very different personalities."
-The New York Times

"Fascinating...invaluable...fearless...This book is about the wonder of being human."
-Robert Koehler, Tribune Media Services

Editorial Reviews

"Transformative...[Taylor's] experience...will shatter [your] own perception of the world."
-ABC News

"[Dr. Taylor] brings a deep personal understanding to something she long studied: that the two lobes of the brain have very different personalities."
-The New York Times

"Fascinating...invaluable...fearless...This book is about the wonder of being human."
-Robert Koehler, Tribune Media Services

From the Publisher

Listeners will find Taylor's story scary and insightful, and not for the faint of heart, as she tells listeners of her experience with a brain aneurysm and her recovery. She covers both the emotional and physical aspects of her illness, as well as its physiology. Sounding like a friend giving advice and sometimes like a teacher instructing a student, Taylor tells her story not only to those who also may have had a stroke, but to their families, friends, and colleagues. Her passion comes through in her narration, both for the subject matter itself, and for her life mission to warn others of how strokes happen, how to identify the symptoms, and the need to get help quickly, as well as to share her experience of the brain's miraculous ability to recover. D.L.M. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2008 - AudioFile