Brains in prison

Necks craned to see as Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor pulled the intact brain from a bucket filled with formaldehyde.

Holding the grayish organ in gloved hands, its attached spinal cord dangling freely, Taylor peeled back the outer layer to better show the pattern of nerve endings and the two hemispheres.

Several of the two dozen or so inmates crammed into the Monroe County Jail's multipurpose room let out an exclamation.

"Whoa," one said.

Author of the new book My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Journey Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor gives presentations to inmates to talk about drug abuse and the human brain from a neuroanatomical perspective.

Drawing a representation of a brain on a chalkboard, Taylor explained that producing chemical reactions in the brain with certain drugs eventually will short-circuit certain reactions, meaning it will take longer to get "high."

She also encouraged inmates to recognize the physiological reaction to anger and learn to control it.

"Have a relationship with your brain," Taylor said. "It's the only one you've got."