Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor Presents Stroke Awareness

At the Harre Union Ballroom on Tuesday, May 18, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist, spoke to a sold-out room about the complexities of the brain and stroke awareness, in an event sponsored by Porter Health System. Stroke is the number 1 disabler in America, affecting 750,000 people a year. Dr Jill’s presentation was especially compelling, not only because she is an expert in knowing how the brain works but because on December 10, 1996, at age 37, she suffered a massive stroke.

Dr. Jill opened the presentation with her journey to studying the brain. Growing up in Indiana, her constant companion was her older brother, only 18 months apart. He was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia which sparked Jill’s interest in the workings of the brain. She wanted to discover why he couldn’t “connect his dreams to a common reality,” and was working on these studies at Harvard right before her stroke.

Dr. Jill then moved on to detailing the organization of the brain and how it relates to our everyday actions. She described the different hemispheres in this manner:

Right – Parallel Processor

  • Nonverbal
  • Thinks in pictures
  • Kinesthetic
  • Present moment
  • Holistic thinking
  • Seeks similarities
  • Perceives energy
  • Compassionate
  • Non-confrontational
  • Time lost in flow
  • Joyful

Left – Serial Processor

  • Thinks in language
  • Details
  • Linear/Sequential
  • Past and future
  • Seeks differences
  • Critical analysis
  • Judges right/wrong
  • Competitive
  • Confrontational
  • On the clock
  • Sense of urgency

She also went on to talk about neurons, which each have contact with 10,000 – 15,000 cells, and how they can change their circuitry and recover their functionality.

On the morning of December 10, 1996, Jill woke with an excruciating, pulsating pain behind her left eye. Not realizing she was having a stroke, Jill got up and started about the normal activities of her day. She began her workout routine, during which she realized her “hands looked like primitive claws grasping the bars.” Thinking she was a “strange looking thing,” Jill stopped her exercising and realized that her body’s motion had slowed down. There was no fluidity and grace in her movements and she lost her balance while she was in the shower. Jill describes her awareness of her existence as not knowing where she began or ended, not being able to tell where her arm ended and the wall began. It was then that her brain went silent and she experienced a sense of euphoria, as the left side of her brain shut down.

She described a feeling of total peace, a connection to all there is. Describing herself as “an infant in a woman’s body,” Dr. Jill drifted back and forth between the euphoria and conscious realization that she needed to get help. At one point, she said to herself, “This is so cool! How many brain scientists have the opportunity to study from the inside out?” Between these drifting moments, Jill was able to reach someone to take her to the hospital, but that wasn’t until 4 hours after her initial symptoms.

Recovery wasn’t easy. Dr. Jill credits her mother as her strength during those trying times, needing love and sleep the most. Jill has since made a full recovery, written a book about her experience, “My Stroke of Insight,” and travels around the country, sharing her story and bringing awareness to strokes. If you think someone is having a stroke, ask them to raise their eyebrows, smile, and stick out their tongue. Or ask questions they would easily know the answer to, such as what year they were born in. If they are unable to do the simple movements or unable to answer the question, seek help immediately. The longer the wait, the more damage can occur.