Health

After death give your brain to science plea

by LotusFlower | January 7, 2009 at 07:53 am

284 views | 10 Recommendations | 3 comments

"Donate your brain to science" that's the message from leading researchers into diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

It seems that not enough of us are donating our brains to medical science and without brains to work on finding cures for diseases of the brain is made more difficult.

"We need the best brains working on the best brains." That's the way Professor Paul Francis from King's College London sums up the problem facing scientists working on a range of diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Autism.

The simple fact, he says, is that not enough people are donating their brains to medical science after they die - and if that doesn't change vital research into the neurological processes that cause these diseases could grind to a halt.

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Emilio Lizardo

at 09:09 on January 7th, 2009

macabre

Main Entry: ma·ca·bre
Function: adjective
Etymology: French, from (danse) macabre dance of death, from Middle French (danse de) Macabré
Date: 1889
1 : having death as a subject : comprising or including a personalized representation of death
2 : dwelling on the gruesome
3 : tending to produce horror in a beholder
synonyms see ghastly

Terri Potratz

at 15:15 on January 7th, 2009

If you're an organ donor, is your brain automatically included? Or do you have to specify that you want to donate your brain to science? Likely depends on country I'm sure..

LotusFlower

at 23:47 on January 7th, 2009

I hadn't thought of that - I thonk organ donors are essentially consenting to donate their organs to someone else rather than for research but could be wrong - needs checking out.