Launching the Disruptive Women Series on Brain Health: “The Brain is Wider than the Sky”

This week we launch our series on Women’s Brain Health.  The statistics are sobering, the diseases cruel, and the percentage of women disproportionately affected by dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, and other neurologic disorders are staggering and growing.  So too, the number of women who become caregivers– their physical, emotional and financial health draining as a result.  At the same time, the number of remarkable women contributing to the research pipeline and policy apparatus is breathtaking.  Over the next two weeks, we will introduce you to the exciting work these women are contributing to the field.  But before we dive into the turbulent waters, I am sharing the sublime poetry of Emily Dickinson.  For me personally, I find it helps to frame the science through the lens of the arts. This particular poem spoke to me about the wonder that is the brain. Emily Dickinson (1830–86).  Complete Poems.  1924. THE BRAIN is wider than the sky, For, put them side by side, The one the other will include With ease, and you beside. The brain is deeper than the sea, For, hold them, blue to blue, The one the other will absorb, As sponges, buckets do. The brain is just the weight of God, For, lift them, pound for pound, And they will differ, if they do, As syllable from sound. Dickinson, Emily. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Boston: Little, Brown, 1924; Bartleby.com, 2000. www.bartleby.com/113/.
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs