My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor is a remarkable combination of memoir, neuroscience and personal recovery, written from the extraordinary perspective of a brain scientist who experienced a major stroke herself.

Jill Bolte Taylor was a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist when, on 10 December 1996, at the age of thirty-seven, she suffered a severe haemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain. As the stroke progressed, Taylor experienced the gradual loss of abilities most people take for granted, including speech, reading, movement and memory. Yet her scientific training gave her an unusual perspective: she was able to observe aspects of her own brain function disappearing while the event was actually taking place.

In My Stroke of Insight, Taylor recounts both the dramatic experience of the stroke and the long process of rebuilding her life. Her recovery ultimately took approximately eight years. Along the way she explores the differing functions of the brain’s hemispheres, consciousness, emotion, perception and the remarkable capacity of the human brain to adapt and recover.

Written in an accessible style rather than as a specialist medical textbook, this international bestseller has particular appeal to readers interested in neuroscience, psychology, brain health, stroke recovery, rehabilitation and inspirational memoirs. My Stroke of Insight also offers valuable insight for families, caregivers and healthcare professionals seeking to understand the experience of neurological injury from the patient’s perspective.

This is the 2009 Hodder paperback edition, following the original British publication by Hodder & Stoughton in 2008.

Condition – Good

Well-kept paperback copy with light general shelf wear to the covers and edges. Minor rubbing and slight handling marks are visible, with a little softening to the corners. The spine remains sound and the binding appears firm. Page edges show light age-related toning.