# data[].attributes.headline
Ancient Egyptian Brain Removal: Early Postmortem Observations 2500 BCE

# data[].attributes.subject
Ancient Egyptian Brain Removal: Early Postmortem Observations 2500 BCE

# data[].attributes.body
In 2500 BCE ancient Egyptians believed the heart, not the brain, was the hub of all intelligence for mankind. This showed early misconceptions about brain structure and function.

Egyptians would use embalming tools to remove the brain during the mummification process. This was commonly known as transnasal excerebration surgery. A long object was used to liquefy and remove the brain before the embalming process. They would perform this by puncturing a hole through the ethmoid bone near the nose and insert the stick inside. Parts of the brain would come out from this technique and then other parts were liquefied. There was a mixture of CSF and liquified brain left over after most parts were pulled out. In order to get this mixture out the person would be placed onto their abdomen to allow it to drain.

-Early Ancient Egypt recognized the brain's existence but they didn't know too much about its function. It took centuries before scholars began to realize the brains role in behavior and cognition.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excerebration

https://doi.org/10.3171/2011.12.jns11417

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Excerebration is an ancient Egyptian mummification procedure of removal of the brain from corpses prior to actual embalming. Greek writer Herodotus, a frequent visitor to Egypt, wrote in the fifth century B.C. about the process, “Having agreed on a price, the bearers go away, and the workmen, left alone in their place, embalm the body. If they do this in a perfect way, they first draw out part of the brain through the nostrils with an iron hook, and inject certain drugs into the rest”.[1]

# data[].attributes.headline
Anatomical Drawings by Andreas Vesalius; The Birth of Modern Neuroanatomy 1543

# data[].attributes.subject
Anatomical Drawings by Andreas Vesalius; The Birth of Modern Neuroanatomy 1543

# data[].attributes.body
In 1543 Andreas Vesalius wrote the De Humani Corporis Fabrica. This was the first detailed anatomical study of the human brain based on different stages of dissection.

This was a huge transition in the study of neuroscience because allowed the field to go from just speculation to direct observations of brains and how we can study them. Vesalius stood in front of a very large crowd and dissected a corpse to prove his validity to others. Although he did not mainly focus on the human brain through anatomy, the importance of him dissecting the corpses and providing others with accurate anatomical drawings took the study of the brain to the next level.

- Vesalius provided humans with the first detailed anatomical drawings of the brain, even though he did not connect specific brain structures to functions. This would happen later in the 19th century, when Paul Broca began to link anatomy to behavior through postmortem studies.

Sources:

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/historicalanatomies/vesalius_home.html

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/358129

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Historical Anatomies on the Web: Andreas Vesalius Home

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Historical Anatomies Home > Browse Titles >Andreas Vesalius: De corporis humani fabrica libri septem

# data[].attributes.headline
Localization of Brain Function by Paul Broca 1861

# data[].attributes.subject
Localization of Brain Function by Paul Broca 1861

# data[].attributes.body
In 1861, Paul Broca became interested in the study of the left side of the frontal lobe. He was interested in the area of the brain involved with speech production.

This was a huge breakthrough in the field of neurology because we had our first big clue that the theory of brain localization was a real thing based on solid anatomical proof. Broca has preserved the brain of one of his patented named "Tan" who lost his ability of speech due to damage on the left side of his frontal lobe. Broca's postmortem studies changed language research by proving that different brain areas were involved in different functions in the body.

-Broca's studies were a big turning point in neuroscience. They demonstrated that specific brain regions could control certain abilities. This was an important discovery for later researchers that includes, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimers.

Sources:

https://neuroscientificallychallenged.com/posts/history-of-neuroscience-paul-broca

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In April of 1861, a 51-year old man was transferred to Paul Broca's surgical ward in a hospital in France. The man, whose name was Leborgne, had epilepsy but was near death due to an uncontrolled infection and the resultant gangrene. There was something curious about Leborgne, however: he had extreme difficulty speaking voluntarily. In fact, one of the only sounds he was able to make--unless antagonized, which could prompt him to curse--was an utterance that resembled the word "tan." This led to "Tan" becoming the patient's nickname, and the way students of psychology and neuroscience would be introduced to him in textbooks for the next 150+ years.

At the time, there was a fairly contentious debate among scientists about the organization of brain function. Some argued that the brain had to be viewed from a holistic perspective. They believed that the activities of the brain were carried out by the brain acting as a whole, and that one couldn't attribute functions to specific regions of the brain, as that approach ignored the necessity of the entire brain being involved. Others contended that the functions of the brain could be localized to certain areas of the organ; thus, from this perspective it was argued that there were centers of the brain specialized for certain tasks.

Speech was an important part of this debate because some believed there was evidence that there were areas of the frontal cortex where the capacity to produce articulate speech was located. Broca, who was already an influential figure in the scientific community, leaned toward the holistic perspective before Tan became his patient.

Tan died six days after he came under Broca's care. Broca performed an autopsy and found that, although Tan's brain was in relatively bad shape overall, there was an especially distinct lesion in his left frontal lobe. This supported the hypothesis that language was localized to the frontal lobes, as it could be interpreted that Tan's brain damage was the root cause of his speech deficit. This finding would eventually lead to Broca putting his full support behind the localization of function argument, and his support would be influential in turning the scientific consensus away from holism.

Over the next several years, Broca discovered a number of other patients who had left frontal lobe damage along with a deficit in producing articulate speech. Over time, the area that Broca repeatedly observed to be lesioned in these cases came to be called Broca's area. The speech disorder that resulted, which involves difficulty primarily with speech production, was called Broca's aphasia.

Although Broca would be best known for his work supporting the importance of the frontal lobe in speech, and the influence this had on the localization of function debate, he also was a pioneering neurosurgeon. He developed several neurosurgical methods that advanced our ability to examine the brain postmortem. However, Broca's findings regarding speech production are what have immortalized him in the history of neuroscience.

Finger, S. (2004). Paul Broca (1824?1880) Journal of Neurology, 251 (6) DOI: 10.1007/s00415-004-0456-6

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In April of 1861, a 51-year old man was transferred to Paul Broca's surgical ward in a hospital in France. The man, whose name was Leborgne, had epilepsy but was near death due to an uncontrolled infection and the resultant gangrene. There was something curious about Leborgne, however: he had extreme difficulty speaking voluntarily.

# data[].attributes.body
In 1955 after Albert Einstein's passing, a section of his brain was preserved and studied postmortem. The purpose of studying his brain was to look for potential differences that could be linked to intelligence in his brain and the brain of others. This started a fire of a lot of ethical debates in the field of neuroscience.

Albert Einstein's brain was split into 240 blocks and put into histological slides, then photographed multiple times. After the fact, they looked at each part of the brain and found distinct differences between his regions and others who were on the contrary to him.

-Some of these differences included an enlarged (wider) parietal lobe, and the region related to left-hand somatosensory cortex was much larger than the standard control brains in the study. These things could have contributed to his excellence in math and science.

-Although the study of Einstein's brain is debated, it keeps up with the idea that postmortem brain analysis can teach us more about cognitive abilities.

Sources:

https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/aws295

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The cerebral cortex of Albert Einstein: a description and preliminary analysis of unpublished photographs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Abstract. Upon his death in 1955, Albert Einstein’s brain was removed, fixed and photographed from multiple angles. It was then sectioned into 240 blocks,

# data[].attributes.headline
Postmortem Studies of Neurodegenerative Diseases (From the 1970s - Present Day)

# data[].attributes.subject
Postmortem Studies of Neurodegenerative Diseases (From the 1970s - Present Day)

# data[].attributes.body
An important artifact from this study could include a stained brain section of an Alzheimer's patient. Staining this section of the brain would show us amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles that are commonly associated with Alzheimers.

These studies help confirm to researchers the biological basis of Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders. For example, what part of the brain they originated in and how the affected area is affecting their brain function. It is important to study these lesions after death and learn about their degenerative effects on a person's cognition. This can help us understand how to care for someone who has been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease. Autopsies of the brains of individuals with Alzheimer's lead to modern day treatments by focusing on drugs that helped treat the abnormalities caused by Alzheimers, rather than treating the symptoms associated with the disorder.

-Studying these neurodegenerative disorders is so important to research. We want to gain as much knowledge as we can about the brain. This is why places like brain banks that store and study brains are super important for facilitating research.

Sources:

https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/0fd4/10741332/f3d63e8f1fbc/jad-96-jad230389-g002.jpg

https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000006949

# data[].attributes.headline
Contemporary Neuroscience Entry: The Human Brain Bank Project

# data[].attributes.subject
Contemporary Neuroscience Entry: The Human Brain Bank Project

# data[].attributes.body
The Human Bank Project was a study where researchers collected a large amount of data from brain tissue and used it to study a collection of different brain diseases. Important artifacts would include MRI scans from the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center.

Modern brain banks provide brain tissue for different kinds of research on psychiatric disorders, neurodegenerative disorders and brain mapping. Millions and millions of Americans have or had suffered from a psychological disorder. Being able to study and examine brains from these individuals is very important to help us understand and also learn more about the anatomy of the brain behind these disorders. The whole goal of the study is to find out what specific molecular differences can be found between those without psychiatric disorders (anxiety, BPD, depression, etc.) and those without.

-Postmortem brain research has progressed from individual cases to many cases at a time. To keep guiding us, A neuroscientist named Santiago Ramon Y Cajal will provide us with more information about brain research.

Sources:

https://irp.nih.gov/blog/post/2024/10/inside-the-nih-brain-bank

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
IRP Group Supports Neuropsychiatric Research

More than half of Americans are registered organ donors, signed up to gift organs like kidneys and livers to patients in need of a transplant when they die. However, far fewer people have signed up to donate their brains to biomedical research upon their deaths. At NIH, the Human Brain Collection Core (HBCC) acts as a steadfast steward of this precious and scarce scientific resource, giving the brains of deceased donors a second life as a key driver of life-changing neuropsychiatric research.

Nearly 60 million adults in the U.S. suffer from a psychiatric disorder, and examining the brains of these individuals is indispensable for determining the molecular mechanisms underlying these diseases. Consequently, the HBCC provides invaluable assistance to scientists seeking to improve our understanding and treatment of such conditions. In recognition of World Mental Health Day today, let's take a glimpse into how the Core is accelerating investigations into the mass of gray and white matter that makes each of us who we are.

To provide tissue samples and data to scientists both within and outside the NIH Intramural Research Program, the HBCC must first obtain that material itself. The Core collects precious human brain tissue and blood samples from individuals who had been diagnosed with mental illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and schizophrenia, as well as people who died by suicide. They also collect brains donated from individuals who don't have a history of mental illness, which are necessary for comparison.

"The overall mission is to make this very precious resource as available as possible to other investigators and, in return, we expect them to share the data they derive from our tissues on public websites that can be accessed by the scientific community," says Stefano Marenco, M.D., the HBCC's acting director. "The ultimate goal is to discover what specific molecular differences exist between patients with psychiatric disorders and those without."

The HBCC essentially has two halves: intake and distribution. Jonathan Sirovatka, the intake coordinator and neuropathology technician for the HBCC, handles the former. The HBCC's donors can be any age from infancy to the elderly, but their brains cannot show any signs of infectious disease or physical trauma, and they cannot have suffered from neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. Donors are referred to the HBCC by one of the two medical examiners in Virginia that the group currently works with. The Core receives about 50 donations per year, although it is working to build new relationships with other organizations to increase that number.

"We are lucky to have partners who understand the importance of this research and are willing to dedicate time and staff to helping us support it, even under the severe logistical and financial challenges they face," Sirovatka says.

One of the things that makes the donations difficult - and all the more precious - is that these are not planned donations. Rather, Sirovatka approaches the families within 24 hours of their loved one's death and asks if they would agree to the donation.

"It's an unexpected call and these are generally families who have never considered this," Sirovatka says. "We receive a very wide range of reactions across the emotional spectrum. Everyone handles grief differently. Some are enthusiastic about contributing to medical research. On the other end, some are angered at being asked. You just have to handle it with a great deal of sensitivity, respect, and patience."

Once the family gives permission and the brain is donated, the next steps take place very quickly before the tissue can deteriorate. An HBCC staff member or courier will promptly collect the brain and bring it to the NIH Clinical Center, where it undergoes very detailed processing. First, a 3D scan of the brain is obtained, and then the brain is cut into sections using a 3D-printed mold designed in collaboration with NIH's Quantitative MRI (qMRI) Core and printed by the NIH Section on Instrumentation. The resulting 85-90 brain slices are photographed, individually labeled, barcoded, flash-frozen, and vacuum sealed for long term storage. The Core also collects detailed medical histories from family members and medical records from healthcare providers, reconstructing the medical and psychiatric history of the brain donor. Finally, IRP staff clinician Pavan Auluck, M.D., Ph.D., does an extensive diagnostic neuropathological evaluation of each brain, which is conveyed back to the medical examiner who provided the donation to the Core.

Then the brains are put to use. The HBCC receives about 50 requests for brain tissue from researchers each year, each of which results in the distribution of only the specific portion of the brain needed for that scientist's study. The requests go through an approval process with an oversight committee, and the HBCC will subsequently provide the sample or prepare slides. Sometimes they go further, extracting DNA or RNA from donated brains.

"We'll put that extra amount of work into satisfying requests because we can keep some of these resources for future studies," Dr. Marenco says, including the HBCC's own research, on which it collaborates with researchers both within and outside the IRP.

Of course, as information learned from donated tissue expands our understanding of our brains, changes in the field of neuroscience influence the activities of the HBCC in turn. For example, when NIH's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative began providing funding for cutting-edge neuroscience research, the HBCC team realized that in order to map all the cell types and regions in the brain, researchers would need thinner brain slices. And that's not the only way the Core's workflow has changed since it was converted in 2014 from a lab focused on schizophrenia research, which had been collecting brains since the early 1990s.

"We also adopted new technology that allows us to do 3D scans of the surface of the brain and then reorganize our 2D photographs into a 3D version that looks very much like an MRI," Dr. Marenco says. The HBCC uses those reconstructions to align the 2D brain images with brain atlases to more precisely define anatomy and support research.

In addition to its endeavors that are more directly tied to research, the HBCC also works closely with the NIH NeuroBioBank and other programs to standardize procedures and develop and improve practices for brain donation and the handling of donated tissue. The Core also does what it can to inform the public about the Brain Donor Project, where any person can sign up as a prospective brain donor.

"That's something we like to spread the word about because few people are aware of brain donation," Sirovatka says.

As rare as brain donations are, they punch way above their weight in terms of their value to the field of neuroscience. Some of the most important questions about our brains can only be answered by gaining access to the wrinkled mass of cells that is normally encased within our skulls. For that reason, resources like the HBCC play an essential role in research that could one day lead to new treatments for psychiatric conditions.

"We're generating a new foundation of knowledge that might radically change the way we think of psychiatric disorders," Dr. Marenco says. "This is the ultimate prize: changing a discipline that is currently based just on combinations of symptoms for diagnosis into one that is based on identifiable biological mechanisms. That would allow us to treat people with medication that is correct for their biology rather than just their symptoms, and it may even be curative."

"Our small group of 15 staff members works tremendously hard to make the donations as useful as they can possibly be," Sirovatka adds. "We want to obtain the most scientific knowledge from every donation. That's the goal for everyone here because this is one of the most precious gifts a family can give."
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest breakthroughs in the NIH Intramural Research Program.
If you are in crisis, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Lifeline provides confidential support to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Support is also available via live chat . Para ayuda en español, llame al 988.

Related Blog Posts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
IRP Group Supports Neuropsychiatric Research More than half of Americans are registered organ donors, signed up to gift organs like kidneys and livers to patients in need of a transplant when they die. However, far fewer people have signed up to donate their brains to biomedical research upon their deaths.

# data[].attributes.headline
Docent Entry: The Ethics Behind Future Postmortem Brain Studies

# data[].attributes.subject
Docent Entry: The Ethics Behind Future Postmortem Brain Studies

# data[].attributes.body
Postmortem brain research could raise a few ethical questions surrounding consent and privacy of the individual. Some people are worried about potential technologies that focus mainly on preserving the brain after death.

Someone I would choose to be the guide for this exhibit would be Santiago Ramon y Cajal. This is because he was the "Father of Neuroscience", and he had an extensive knowledge of nerve cells and how they were considered separate from the nervous system. Additionally, he worked with staining and preserving the brain and having the ability to look at different sections.

-From ancient Egypt's early anatomical observations to brain banking, the study of the brain after death is very important to the further developments in neuroscience.

Sources:

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-08729-5

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A qualitative study exploring the process of postmortem brain tissue donation after suicide - Scientific Reports

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Scientific Reports - A qualitative study exploring the process of postmortem brain tissue donation after suicide