Jill Bolte Taylor

Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD, is a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist, who in 1996 experienced a severe hemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain. On the afternoon of this rare form of stroke (AVM), she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. It took eight years for Taylor to completely recover all of her functions and thinking ability.

Her New York Times best-selling memoir, My Stroke of Insight, and her 2008 TED presentation, which has become the second most viewed TED Talk of all time, are based on her experience. Her now famous 18-minute presentation catapulted her story into the public eye. As a result, she was chosen as one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2008.

Taylor is the national spokesperson for the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center (Harvard Brain Bank) and educates the public about the shortage of brain tissue donated for research into the severe mental illnessess. Since 1993, she has been an active member of NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness) and is currently the president of the NAMI Greater Bloomington Area affiliate in Bloomington, Indiana. 

She is also founder of Jill Bolte Taylor BRAINS, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing educational services and promoting programs related to the advancement of brain awareness, appreciation, exploration, education, injury prevention, neurological recovery, and the value of movement on mental and physical health.

What People are Saying About Jill Bolte Taylor

"Transformative. Taylor's experience will shatter your own perception of the world."
ABC News

"Dr. Taylor brings a deep personal understanding to something she long studied: that the two lobes of the brain have very different personalities."
New York Times