debbie millman

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Stroke of Insight, Stroke of Genius



Brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor studied her own stroke as it happened -- and has become a powerful voice for brain recovery.

One morning, a blood vessel in Jill Bolte Taylor's brain exploded. As a brain scientist, she realized she had a ringside seat to her own stroke. She watched as her brain functions shut down one by one: motion, speech, memory, self-awareness, and so forth. Amazed to find herself alive, Taylor spent eight years recovering her ability to think, walk and talk. She has become a spokesperson for stroke recovery and for the possibility of coming back from brain injury stronger than before. In her case, although the stroke damaged the left side of her brain, her recovery unleashed a torrent of creative energy from her right.

Dr. Taylor recounts the details of her stroke and the amazing insights she gained from it in a riveting 18-minute video of her speech at the Technology, Entertainment, Design Conference in Monterey, Calif., last month. Her fascinating lecture includes a detailed explanation of the differences between the left and right sides of the brain, complete with an incredibly cool prop — a real human brain.

How many brain scientists have been able to study the brain from the inside out? I've gotten as much out of this experience of losing my left mind as I have in my entire academic career.
--Jill Bolte Taylor

1 Comments:

Blogger minus five said...

wow.

i think sometimes how awesome it could be if we could let everyone, including ourselves, off the hook long enough to see how small we are and to see how insignificant the day-to-day really is.

3/13/2008 11:40:00 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

things i paint
things i photograph
design matters design matters poster designed by Firebelly
about me things i do those i thank things i like current playlist