When I tell people I manage a Brain Bank they usually look quizzical and joke about making deposits and withdrawals. The reality is, they’re not so far from the truth. People make the decision to donate their brain for medical research every day and when they do, a Brain Bank is where their brain goes. We have over 850 brains from generous individuals who have recognised the need to better understand the cause of diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and frontotemporal dementia. Currently, the only way we can study the fine-scale changes that occur in these diseases is by studying brain tissue after death.
A small section of brain tissue, stained to reveal particular structures or the presence of certain chemicals.
When tissue arrives at the Sydney Brain Bank it goes through a thorough examination to determine whether the donor had a brain disease and if so, how widespread and severe it was. Only by doing this can we classify large numbers of similar cases required for meaningful research. Once the tissue is characterised, it’s stored by us and made available for approved scientists to carry out scientifically valid and ethical research projects. All scientific applications are independently reviewed by a panel of experts in the field to ensure the tissue is contributing to world-class research.
Me in the lab
If the donor suffered from a neurodegenerative disease it’s often also comforting for the family to have confirmation of the reason for their physical or cognitive decline. However, the overall reason for becoming a brain donor is purely altruistic and stems from a desire for others not to have to suffer from these conditions. Every donation we receive (of a brain or funds) is achieving this outcome, with over 17 national and international scientific research projects facilitated by the donation of tissue to the Sydney Brain Bank in 2012 alone.
Dr Claire Shepherd is the Manager of the Sydney Brain Bank and is currently working with the NeuRA Foundation to help raise funds for this important facility. Not many people are aware of why brain banks are so important, and even fewer people know that it takes a surprisingly large amount of money to carefully store, process and handle the precious brain tissue that is generously donated.
How long can the tissue be stored for? Can the brains be used for research years after they were donated?
Hi Joshua
Yes, the tissue is stored for many years and is often used in multiple research studies. All of our cases in the Sydney Brain Bank are kept for at least 15 years, or until all of the tissue has been used for research studies. There’s no finite time for storage, although tissue that’s been stored in formalin for very long periods of time can have limited use due to the fact that formalin eventually blocks access to some of the factors we want to study. We also freeze some of the tissue and the type of tissue used (fixed or frozen) is dependent on the experiments performed.
I hope this answers your question.
Best wishes
Claire