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Brain Donation

© Karen Largent

Organ donation is the ultimate gift of life. Thousands of people benefit from the donation of vital organs after a person's death. Brain tissue may also be donated. There are people who would be willing to donate brain tissue but are not sure how to do it. There are many programs available for potential donors.

The Alzheimer's Disease Research Center offers a Brain Donation Autopsy Program to participants in their center at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. This program reduces or eliminates the costs to family members normally associated with brain autopsies. Persons with AD who are not members of their center can also arrange for brain autopsies, although the hospital will assess the usual charges in such cases. The web page gives you a good overview of what steps are taken when a donation is to be made.

This site from the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center, presents questions and answers in a very simplified manner about Brain Donation. They also provide a phone number you can call about brain donations: 617-687-2927 or you can e-mail them directly from the site.

The Oregon Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Center Brain Donation Programs web site presented by the Oregon Health Sciences University Portland, Oregon, simply presents information on how to participate in their program. They list a phone number and contact name.

Alzheimer's Research - BRACE South West Brain Bank is located in the Department of Care of the Elderly at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, England. This site explains what is involved in donation, what they do with the brain tissue, how to become a donor, and they provide a form to enroll.

The Northwestern Neurobehavior and Memory Disorders Clinic explains the importance of making this gift this way:

"We are asking for your help in the struggle against dementia - a disease that often leaves family members feeling helpless, frustrated, and anguished as they witness the decline of a relative or friend. Unfortunately, much more must be known about dementia before effective treatments are discovered to reverse or retard cognitive deterioration. Brain donation at the time of death is one of the most important and generous gifts a patient with dementia and his or her family can give".

In quoting directly from their web page, the following paragraphs explain when, why, and how brain donation is important:

"The bereavement period is not the optimal time to begin thinking about an autopsy. The time to start thinking about brain autopsy is now, even though the patient's death may be years away.