Category: Reviews

This isn’t a particularly new book, published four years ago in the UK. But if you have an interest in strokes, how the brain works and how you can make yours work better and – pertinently to the NHS, given recent scandals – how some healthcare professionals need to remember what care is, My stroke of insight is well-worth reading.

Jill Bolte Taylor, an American neuroanatomist, suffered a massive stroke at the age of 37. The best section of the book – which follows an admirably concise description of the brain’s structure and function – describes in thriller-like detail how she experienced her stroke, with brain functions and personality traits falling away. You will her to call 911, but “the haemorrhage growing in my cranium was positioned directly over the portion of my left brain that understood what a number was”. It is fascinating, educational and terrifying. Continue reading “Review: My stroke of insight by Jill Bolte Taylor”