How does our brain create our reality? And is it true that our emotions are based solely in the right hemispheres of our brains, as science has taught for more than 50 years? Our guest today, Dr Jill Bolte Taylor, is a Harvard-trained and published neuroanatomist. She shares with us the idea of cellular circuitry and how there are four distinct modules of cells that make up who we are, combining the thinking mind and the emotional side. She discusses her new book, “Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characteristics that Drive Our Life,” which blends neuroanatomy with psychology in order to gain balance and thereby deep inner peace. Today she also talks about the beauty of our human brain and its ability to recover from trauma.
In 1996, she experienced a severe hemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain causing her to lose the ability to walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. Her memoir, “My Stroke of Insight,” documenting her experience with stroke and eight-year recovery, spent 63 weeks on the NY Times nonfiction bestseller list and is still routinely the #1 book about stroke on Amazon. Dr. Taylor was chosen as one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” and she was the premiere guest on Oprah Winfrey’s “Soul Series” webcast. Her TED Talk now has more than 26 million views. Info: drjilltaylor.com.