The Sunday Sidebar – The Brain.
March 23, 2008 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Health, Medical History, Medicine, Mental Health, Misc., The Sunday Sidebar, Video
The brain is my topic of choice this week. I had the chance to view a couple of really interestng videos relating to the brain and thought I’d share them with the Healthbolt readers.
First up is an amazing talk by neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor. Her powerful story about studing her own brain while she had a stroke is full of emotion, humor, and fascinating information about the brain.
In her words…
“…on the morning of December 10, 1996 I woke up to discover that I had a brain disorder of my own. A blood vessel exploded in the left half of my brain. And in the course of four hours I watched my brain completely deteriorate in its ability to process all information. On the morning of the hemorrhage I could not walk, talk, read, write or recall any of my life. I essentially became an infant in a woman’s body.”
Next up is Brad Williams who suffers from Hyperthymesia or superior autobiographical memory. It’s a pretty rare condition – so far there have been only three reported cases.
The man with the sticky memory
A documentary about Brad is in the works. Titled Unforgettable, it’s tag line reads ‘What if you could remember every day of your life?’. Check out the trailers and more about Brad at the Unforgettable website.
Then there is the Brain of an Alzheimer’s Patient, a video filmed at the Sun Health Research Institute in Arizona. They maintain a biobank of over a thousand donated brains that are used to help research cures for debilitating illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease.
And finally…
If you are interested in finding out which celebrites (past and present) suffer from Bipolar Disorder and how it affects their work, have a read of this article – The Cost of Creativity: Bipolar Disorder and the Stars – from ABC News.
What a week!
I do believe you two have outdone yourselves.
First, the regular “intimate improvement” section. Then steak and beer are good things and you reveal an appreciation for the finer nuances of farting! All this and brains too! Now if you could just tie this all in to hot rods I could sum it up in 2 words: Dream Girl!
Hot Rods, huh. I’m sure there has to be a health post in there somewhere…will see what we can do!!!
Awww shucks, Paul. I do believe we’re starting to blush…
I read “My Stroke of Insight” in one sitting – I couldn’t put it down. I laughed. I cried. It was a fantastic book (I heard it’s a NYTimes Bestseller and I can see why!), but I also think it will be the start of a new, transformative Movement! No one wants to have a stroke as Jill Bolte Taylor did, but her experience can teach us all how to live better lives. Her TED.com speech was one of the most incredibly moving, stimulating, wonderful videos I’ve ever seen. Her Oprah Soul Series interviews were fascinating. They should make a movie of her life so everyone sees it. This is the Real Deal and gives me hope for humanity.
Haven’t had the chance to read the book yet, but have heard from many sources that it is quite inspirational. Am off to check out the Soul series interviews…thanks for tip.