Jill Bolte Taylor
Encyclopedia
Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist
who specializes in the postmortem investigation of the human brain. She is affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine
and is the national spokesperson for the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center. Her own personal experience with a massive stroke, experienced in 1996 at age 37, and her subsequent eight-year recovery, has informed her work as a scientist and speaker. For this work, in May 2008 she was named to Time Magazine's 2008 Time 100
list of the 100 most influential people in the world. "My Stroke of Insight" received the top "Books for a Better Life" Book Award in the Science category from the New York City Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society on February 23, 2009 in New York City.
(AVM). Three weeks later, on December 27, 1996, she underwent major brain surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital
(MGH) to remove a golf ball-sized clot that was placing pressure on the language centers in the left hemisphere of her brain.
Taylor's February 2008 TED Conference
talk about her memory of the stroke became an Internet sensation, resulting in widespread attention and interest around the world.
After 17 weeks on the New York Times Hardcover Non-Fiction Bestseller list, My Stroke of Insight, whose paperback edition debuted at #4 on the paperback New York Times Bestseller list, is also available in large print, audio book, and kindle editions.
and Imagine Entertainment
have teamed on My Stroke of Insight, brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor's memoir about her journey back from a debilitating stroke. Ron Howard
has signed on to the direct the film, and he wants Jodie Foster
as his star. But Foster isn't formally attached at this point. Semi Chellas
is writing the script and Howard and his Imagine partner Brian Grazer
are producing. The author, whose book was published last year by Plume, and Ellen Stiefler
will be executive producers."
Neuroanatomy
Neuroanatomy is the study of the anatomy and organization of the nervous system. In contrast to animals with radial symmetry, whose nervous system consists of a distributed network of cells, animals with bilateral symmetry have segregated, defined nervous systems, and thus we can begin to speak of...
who specializes in the postmortem investigation of the human brain. She is affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine
Indiana University School of Medicine
The Indiana University School of Medicine is a leading medical school and medical research powerhouse connected to Indiana University. With several teaching campuses in the state, the School of Medicine has its predominant research and medical center at the Indiana University – Purdue University...
and is the national spokesperson for the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center. Her own personal experience with a massive stroke, experienced in 1996 at age 37, and her subsequent eight-year recovery, has informed her work as a scientist and speaker. For this work, in May 2008 she was named to Time Magazine's 2008 Time 100
2008 Time 100
The following is a list of the 2008 Time 100 selections. The Time 100 is an annual list designating the 100 most influential people in the world.-Leaders & Revolutionaries:...
list of the 100 most influential people in the world. "My Stroke of Insight" received the top "Books for a Better Life" Book Award in the Science category from the New York City Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society on February 23, 2009 in New York City.
Stroke of Insight
On December 10, 1996, Taylor woke up to discover that she was experiencing a stroke. The cause proved to be bleeding from an abnormal congenital connection between an artery and a vein in her brain, an arteriovenous malformationArteriovenous malformation
Arteriovenous malformation or AVM is an abnormal connection between veins and arteries, usually congenital. This pathology is widely known because of its occurrence in the central nervous system, but can appear in any location. An arteriovenous malformation is a vascular anomaly. It is a...
(AVM). Three weeks later, on December 27, 1996, she underwent major brain surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital is a teaching hospital and biomedical research facility in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts...
(MGH) to remove a golf ball-sized clot that was placing pressure on the language centers in the left hemisphere of her brain.
Taylor's February 2008 TED Conference
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
talk about her memory of the stroke became an Internet sensation, resulting in widespread attention and interest around the world.
Book
Following her experience with stroke, Taylor wrote the best-selling book My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey, about her recovery from the stroke and the insights she has gained into the workings of her brain. Subsequently, Taylor appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show on October 21, 2008. In her later commencement address at Duke University on May 10, 2009, Oprah Winfrey quoted Taylor's assertion that, "You are responsible for the energy that you bring" in encouraging the students to assume this same responsibility in their future lives. Taylor was the first guest featured on Oprah's Soul Series webcast on Oprah.com and Satellite radio show.After 17 weeks on the New York Times Hardcover Non-Fiction Bestseller list, My Stroke of Insight, whose paperback edition debuted at #4 on the paperback New York Times Bestseller list, is also available in large print, audio book, and kindle editions.
Movie
My Stroke of Insight is being transformed into a major feature film: "Sony Pictures EntertainmentSony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...
and Imagine Entertainment
Imagine Entertainment
Imagine Entertainment is a film and television production company founded in 1986 by director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer.Its productions include the television series 24 and Arrested Development and the films Apollo 13 , A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code .-Organization:Karen...
have teamed on My Stroke of Insight, brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor's memoir about her journey back from a debilitating stroke. Ron Howard
Ron Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
has signed on to the direct the film, and he wants Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
as his star. But Foster isn't formally attached at this point. Semi Chellas
Semi Chellas
Semi Chellas is a writer and screenwriter who has written for film, television and magazines. She was born in Palo Alto, California in 1969 and grew up in Calgary, Alberta....
is writing the script and Howard and his Imagine partner Brian Grazer
Brian Grazer
Brian Thomas Grazer is an Academy Award-winning American film and television producer who co-founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. Together they have produced many acclaimed films, including Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind .- Career :Brian Grazer began his career as a producer...
are producing. The author, whose book was published last year by Plume, and Ellen Stiefler
Ellen Stiefler
Ellen Stiefler is an agent , transmedia producer, executive producer and Attorney who manages talent and intellectual property rights across all media...
will be executive producers."
Ballet
Cedar Lake Ballet Company made a ballet about My Stroke of Insight called "Orbo Novo." "The piece's title, Orbo Novo, is drawn from a 1493 reference to North America by Spanish historian Pietro Martire d'Anghiera. But the "new world" that Cherkaoui is exploring is current theories about the brain, and the text that the 17 dancers speak during the first moments of the 75-minute work comes from My Stroke of Insight, neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor's uncanny recollection of her stroke. The choreography is based on the ramifications of a single resonant idea: the duality between rationality (the left brain) and instinctive, sensual responses (the right brain); between control and the lack of it; between balance and instability, solitude and society." "Thus were the dancers speaking Taylor's words (“My spirit soared free like a great whale gliding through the sea of silent euphoria”), while they physically embodied brain waves and misfiring synapses, with a nod, perhaps, to the double helix: rubbery splayed limbs; über-arched backs; ever-rippling torsos." “‘Orbo Novo’ is a humorous and insightful take on (Taylor’s) story,” said dancer Jubal Battisti. “It has a lot to do with the hemispheres of the brain switching between left and right and what that reveals.”External links
- Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor Homepage
- Jill Bolte Taylor at TEDTED (conference)TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
- Jill Bolte Taylor on Oprah's Soul Series
- NPR radio interview
- In a Single Stroke: The Metamorphosis of Jill Bolte Taylor. O, The Oprah MagazineO, The Oprah MagazineO: The Oprah Magazine, sometimes simply abbreviated to O, is a monthly magazine founded by Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Corporation.-Overview:...
, October 2002 - Chicago Public Media radio interview