TEDTalk Tuesday: A Stroke From the Inside Out

[Occulus]

The week's TEDTALKTUESDAY video is given by a Harvard-trained and published neuroanatomist who teaches at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Bloomington, Indiana. In her talk, she describes the sensations, physical and mental, she experienced the morning she woke up to a stroke in progress. From describing the effects as they occurred, to the impressions upon her the entire incident left her with, in this talk we get a good, close look at a truly horrifying experience- or, as she sees it, a unique opportunity to study her own brain from the inside out.

Enjoy!

JILLBOLTETAYLOR

Talk Title: Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight (video runtime: 18:44)

New feature: Read the transcript of this TED talk



Jill Bolte Taylor

Dr. Taylor's Homepage and Bio

About this Talk

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.

[Speck Tater]

1. Also see THIS thread on the same subject

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3025305&mesg_id=3025305

[Occulus]

3. Heh. I completely missed that.

OOoops.

Well, now we have two. Note to self: check first next week. :)

[FirstLight]

2. This is an amazing story to watch!

She tells it in such a really engaging manner, as well...

I am very interested in the right brain/left brain function because my daughter has a birth defect that affects her left brain. I can see where she has more of a sence of the collective consciousness too.

this is way cool, thanks so much for sharing!

[LibertyLover]

4. Wow- that's amazing

Several years ago, our then Vice President was in South America. As part of her trip, she and several other staffers went to a small village in the Andes. Due to the altitude and lack of oxygen, she was overcome by hypoxia. As she got progressively worse, she wrote about her symptoms. Eventually she slipped into unconsciousness. She had to be air-evaced out. According to the doctors at Johns Hopkins the damage to her brain was similar to a massive stroke. They found her notes to be incredibly helpful. She eventually recovered, but not to the point she had been at prior to her illness. It was sad because prior to the trip to the Andes she had been able to multi-task like nobodies' business. After the Andes incident, she had difficulty focusing for any length of time on just one thing. After about half a year back on the job, she resigned in order to undergo more therapy.