My stroke of insight | Jill Bolte Taylor | TED - YouTube

I embarked on a journey to understand the brain due to my brother's diagnosis with schizophrenia, which led me to question the connection between dreams and reality. I dedicated my career to researching severe mental illnesses, moving to Boston to work in Dr. Francine Benes's lab at the Harvard Department of Psychiatry. We explored the biological differences between the brains of 'normal' individuals and those diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective, or bipolar disorder, focusing on the microcircuitry of the brain.

While conducting this research, I also advocated for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). However, on December 10, 1996, I experienced a personal crisis when a blood vessel in my brain burst, leading to a stroke that severely impaired my cognitive functions. I lost the ability to walk, talk, read, write, or recall my life, effectively becoming an infant in a woman's body.

I've always been fascinated by the brain's hemispheres, which are distinct in their processing. The right hemisphere operates like a parallel processor, focused on the present moment, thinking in pictures, and learning kinesthetically. It connects us to the energy around us and to each other. In contrast, the left hemisphere functions like a serial processor, concerned with the past and future, categorizing details, and projecting possibilities. It thinks in language and defines our individuality.

During my stroke, I lost the function of my left hemisphere, which silenced my brain chatter and temporarily disconnected me from reality. I experienced a profound sense of peace and euphoria, feeling at one with the universe. Despite the urgency of my situation, I was intrigued by the opportunity to study my brain from the inside out.

It took me 45 minutes to dial for help due to my inability to process visual information and numbers. When help arrived, I was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where I underwent surgery to remove a golf ball-sized blood clot from my brain.

Recovery took eight years, but it provided me with a unique perspective on life. We have the power to choose which part of our brain to engage with: the right hemisphere that connects us to the universe or the left hemisphere that defines our individuality. I advocate for spending more time in the right hemisphere's peace circuitry, believing it can bring more peace to the world.

This experience was a "stroke of insight" into our ability to live a more peaceful existence, an idea I find worth spreading.

The original article: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU&list=PLV7xfBoJKBNQ3yhYgQRqocSWs1MKF7j0n&index=16