Jill Bolte Taylor: An extraordinary journey

One morning, a blood vessel in Jill Bolte Taylor’s brain exploded. As a brain scientist, she realised 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 …

“I realized, ‘Oh my gosh! I’m having a stroke! I’m having a stroke!’ The next thing my brain says to me is, ‘Wow! This is so cool! How many brain scientists have the opportunity to study their own brain from the inside out?”

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.

She now travels the country on behalf of the Harvard Brain Bank as the “Singin’ Scientist.”

Website: www.drjilltaylor.com