Textbooks Online Store

Buy cheap Jill Bolte Taylor’s book a brain scientist’s personal journey now you save 30% off in paperback includes free shipping on orders over $25.

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey (Paperback)

by Ph.D., Jill Bolte Taylor (Author)

Textbook Details
* Paperback: 224 pages
* Publisher: Plume; 1 edition (May 26, 2009)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0452295548
* ISBN-13: 978-0452295544
* Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
* Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces

Textbook Description
On the morning of December 10, 1996, Jill Bolte Taylor, a thirty-seven-year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist, experienced a massive stroke when a blood vessel exploded in the left side of her brain.

A neuroanatomist by profession, she observed her own mind completely deteriorate to the point that she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life, all within the space of four brief hours. As the damaged left side of her brain–the rational, grounded, detail- and time-oriented side–swung in and out of function, Taylor alternated between two distinct and opposite realties: the euphoric nirvana of the intuitive and kinesthetic right brain, in which she felt a sense of complete well-being and peace; and the logical, sequential left brain, which recognized Jill was having a stroke, and enabled her to seek help before she was lost completely.

In My Stroke of Insight, Taylor shares her unique perspective on the brain and its capacity for recovery, and the sense of omniscient understanding she gained from this unusual and inspiring voyage out of the abyss of a wounded brain. It would take eight years for Taylor to heal completely. Because of her knowledge of how the brain works, her respect for the cells composing her human form, and most of all an amazing mother, Taylor completely repaired her mind and recalibrated her understanding of the world according to the insights gained from her right brain that morning of December 10th.

Today Taylor is convinced that the stroke was the best thing that could have happened to her. It has taught her that the feeling of nirvana is never more than a mere thought away. By stepping to the right of our left brains, we can all uncover the feelings of well-being and peace that are so often sidelined by our own brain chatter. A fascinating journey into the mechanics of the human mind, My Stroke of Insight is both a valuable recovery guide for anyone touched by a brain injury, and an emotionally stirring testimony that deep internal peace truly is accessible to anyone, at any time.

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey Review
This book was very good at explaining the authors experience in having and recovering from a stroke. Her insights were useful in helping me understand my own thinking, particularly with respect to spiritual experiences I have had. My childhood friend is currently in the hospital with a stroke, and I think this book may be useful to his daughter as he recovers.

Dr. Taylor has conveyed an interesting and unique view of the brain’s ability to recover from a stroke. Because of her background of studying the brain’s function and her knowledge of the various aspects of her experience as related to her injury, we get a unique view of the healing and how it affected her cognitive ability. As I have had family who suffered from dementia, I was hoping to gain some insight into the mind of an injured brain. Dr. Taylor has written a unique aspect of a stroke victim’s inner world but it really didn’t help me to see a general view of strokes affects as everyone apparently is so different in the areas of damage.

I ordered this book for a family member that has suffered a brain injury. I saw Jill bolte Taylor on the Oprah show and thought that she delivered a strong message, something that all healthcare workers could benefit from, so when this happened to my family member I thought it would be a good comfort to her and her family to read this book.

I read this book in one afternoon and found it to be full of great insights into the brain and how we have the power to direct its impact on the life we want whether we’ve suffered a stroke or not. The final chapters on choosing to live “right brained” are especially enlightening, but if I were looking for a primer on stroke recovery, this is “Stroke Therapy Lite.” Nonetheless, her suggestions on how to be when working with stroke victims are very perceptive and I trust many hospitals/recovery centers will be changing protocols in this area. Jill, in being given a second chance to do life right is indeed “being the change she wishes to see in the world.” (Gandhi) We could all take her insights to heart.

Dr. Taylor’s book gives interesting, though at times annoying and under-informed, insights into the human brain. As I’m currently doing my graduate studies in Psychology, I found the book to be very interesting, though the first person perspective and narrative are a bit jarring (unexpected) at first. There’s interesting discussions about the right side of the brain and it being the gateway to enlightenment. Though I’m not sure one can achieve nirvana by reading the book, it makes for interesting reading on our neurological circuitry and provides interesting, if not controversial, perspectives.

Buy Kindle Edition
My Stroke of Insight (Kindle Edition)

Frequently Bought Together
The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. Silberman Books) (Paperback)
+
Stillness Speaks (Hardcover)