Dr. Lisa Belisle

Fruit Salad, Flying and Fingernail Ornamentation: The Benefits of Change on the Body

By Lisa M. Belisle, MD, MPH
Originally published April 10, 2007, The Maine Switch

March 23 was a momentous day. My husband turned 40, and my mom showed up to celebrate. Why was this momentous? My mother is a self-described introvert and lover of quiet. A 40th birthday fete populated with unfamiliar individuals from my husband’s workplace did not seem an automatic draw. Regardless, Mom was there, with a bowl of fruit salad in hand and my father by her side.

Fear, Learning & Loved Ones

By Lisa M. Belisle, MD, MPH
Medical Advisor, Raising Readers
Raising Readers Issue Brief, Spring 2007

“THWACK!!” Without warning, the neurology professor cracked a yardstick on the podium. I (along with the majority of the medical students in class with me) jumped in my seat, startled out of my lecture-induced reverie. The professor made his point—that fear and learning are intricately connected in the mammalian brain. Years later I still recall the vivid demonstration of this fact.