My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey

Taylor quotes her friend Dr. Jerry Jesseph as saying that our right and left hemispheres give us “dual interpenetrating awarenesses” of the world around us (149). The corpus callosum helps us consider ourselves one singular individual, but we really have “two distinct ways of being in the world” (149). Having her left hemisphere function again is frightening for Taylor since it processes information so quickly. Her experience has changed her perception of others with brain trauma or differences, and she now interacts with neurodiverse people with more curiosity rather than pity, as she had in the past (150).

Taylor describes her approach to monitoring her thoughts and avoiding negative thinking patterns. While she is convinced that the vast majority of our brains want us to enjoy life, some parts are excellent at generating “doom and gloom” stories fueled by “jealousy, fear and rage” (152). The author’s strategy is to allow her brain’s more negative circuits, or her “peanut gallery,” as she calls it, to indulge in “whine time” in certain segments of her day (152). Maintaining this system and consciously monitoring her thoughts are essential parts of Taylor’s mental and overall health. She allows her mind to “run its course” for 90 seconds and then decides to change her thinking (155).