I don't think that the right versus the left brain are responsible for our balance or imbalance, but it doesn't really matter exactly why she felt that way, or whether it is our right/left hemisphere balance or not.

Phrenology, which flourished in the 1820s and 1830s, claimed that bumps on one's head corresponded to these various traits, and could be measured by assessing the size of each bump.

I was enthralled by Dr. Taylor's talk when I first saw it, and have thought about it many times since. From the vantage point today of several more years of dramatic growth in neuroscientific knowledge, I'd like to offer three reflections.

Regardless of age, your brain has the ability to make new neurons and construct new neural pathways throughout your life. Exciting research reveals that the way we use our brain and care for our brain can enhance its neuroplasticity.

The most powerful approaches to self-improvement may aim to promote the dynamic balance of forces in the brain rather than the quieting of some to release others. Since antiquity, seekers of truth, beauty, and harmony have traveled paths that balance opposing forces.

Dr. Taylor tries to tell us, in the most precise language possible, what it was like to watch her thoughts fall away as she fell into timeless bliss. Truth be told, though, your own subjective experience is just as unique as hers -- and, ultimately, just as immune to exact translation.

I know that as a medical student and a fellow miraculous survivor, I should, like Jill Bolte Taylor, maturely and gracefully appreciate the awesome intricacies and tenacious strength of the brain. Instead, I'm totally disgusted by it.