An inside view of stroke
Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist with an amazing first-hand story of stroke and recovery. In December of 1996, bleeding from an arteriovenous malformation on the left side of her brain removed her ability to speak, walk, read, write, and remember. After a blood clot was removed from her brain, she spent eight years recovering. She has written a book about her experiences and is an advocate for several causes related to brain health. This year at TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design), she spoke about her experiences and the meaning she has found in them.
Her 18-minute presentation, My Stroke of Insight, is worth watching for several reasons. For one thing, it’s eerily fascinating to hear this brain scientist describing what it was like to experience the loss of functionality as her stroke progressed. For another thing, she illustrated the two-part nature of the brain by showing a real human brain (I’d never seen one before). But the heart of the talk was her description of the insight she gained through her perceptions of her brain’s failure and recovery. She has found deep meaning in the “parallel processing” that predominated in her brain as the left side, which as far as we can tell acts more like a serial processor, was failing. It was a powerful presentation. Seven years ago my mother died of a stroke, and it is tremendously moving to me to see someone who has come back so well from such a potentially devastating event. I also appreciate the fact that Taylor has enough knowledge of the brain to be able to analyze her experiences as she tells about them.
While I have your attention I may as well mention the National Stroke Association, which provides information about stroke prevention and recovery. In particular, I recommend checking out the page about stroke symptoms. Speedy medical help is crucial, and there are simple ways to evaluate whether someone is having a stroke and needs medical attention.
