Stroke survivor to keynote ATSU luncheon
Posted: October 7, 2008MESA, Ariz. (Oct. 7, 2008 ) – Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D., noted scientist, author, and stroke survivor, will join A.T. Still University (ATSU) to keynote a luncheon celebrating the launch of ATSU’s Women’s Wellness Program on November 18 at the Hilton Scottsdale Resort and Villas. Dr. Taylor, recently named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, will share her personal story of survival and discovery during her presentation entitled “How to Get Your Brain to Do What You Want it to Do.”
A Harvard-educated neuroanatomist, Dr. Taylor dedicated her career to the study of severe mental illness when she discovered her brother suffered from schizophrenia. At age 37, Dr. Taylor suffered a rare form of stroke, hemorrhaging the left hemisphere of her brain and causing her to lose her speech, sense of motion, and memory.
As the stroke was occurring, Dr. Taylor found herself living what she had studied for so long. She was acutely aware of the shift between the right and left hemispheres of her brain – from a disconnected, quiet place where she couldn’t walk, talk, read, or write, back to a re-connected state of awareness.
It took eight years for Dr. Taylor to successfully rebuild her brain following the stroke. Because of the injury to the left hemisphere, the right blossomed during her recovery, releasing a creative energy that she feels brought with it a better, more enlightened quality of life. She became an artist as well as a scientist. Dr. Taylor shares her story in her book “My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey,” and also as the premiere guest on Oprah Winfrey’s “Soul Series” webcast.
ATSU’s Women’s Wellness Program provides educational opportunities to the public and develops a collective of women focused on improving the quality of their lives and the lives of those around them. For more information about the program or the luncheon, contact Gretchen Buhlig at 480.219.6105 or gbuhlig@astu.edu.