In this thread featuring Jodie Foster, commenter Marjorie introduced the work of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. Taylor is a trained neuroanatomist and has worked for years studying the human brain. But on December 10, 1996:

Dr. Taylor woke up to discover that she was experiencing a rare form of stroke, an arterio-venous malformation (AVM). Three weeks later, on December 27, 1996, she underwent major brain surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to remove a golf ball size hemorrhage that was placing pressure on the language centers in the left hemisphere of her brain.

For the past ten years, Dr. Taylor has been successfully rebuilding her brain – from the inside out. In response to the swelling and trauma of the stroke which placed pressure on her dominant left hemisphere, the functions of her right hemisphere have blossomed. Among other things, she now creates and sells unique stained glass brains. In addition she published a book about her recovery from stroke and the insights she gained into the workings of her brain. The book is titled “My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey”

http://static.videoegg.com/ted2/flash/loader.swf

The subject of left and right brain has always fascinated me, particularly as it relates to creativity. But it’s also an interesting way of distinguishing and developing characters. In fact, you can take this quiz to determine if you’re left or right brain dominant.

This presentation by Dr. Taylor is 18 minutes long, but well worth it. It’s part of a series of fantastic online interviews at www.ted.com, “Inspired talks by the worlds greatest thinkers and doers.”

Final note: Another take on left / right-brain is “The Alphabet Versus the Goddess”, written by a neurosurgeon Leonard Shlain. In the book, Shlain uses his definitions of left-brain and right-brain thinking to analyze the course of human history and makes some startling pronouncements. A most intriguing read.

UPDATE: In comments, Jeff Shear recommends “The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind” by Julian Jaynes. Shea says you can watch the entire video of Jill Taylor as a free podcast on iTunes – Oprah.com’s Spirit channel. And I’ll also recommend another book: “The Creating Brain: The Neuroscience of Genius” by Nancy Andreasen.