Thursday, June 26, 2008

Jill Bolte Taylor: Neuroscientist and Stroke Survivor

I listened to this woman speak on Fresh Air this morning. It is an amazing story and one that is close to my heart as my dear Aunt Blanche suffered a few years ago and I want to understand more about this medical occurrence..

In short, Jill's story:

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 ...

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. From her home base in Indiana, she now travels the country on behalf of the Harvard Brain Bank as the "Singin' Scientist."

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