Clinical Neuroscience /

MRC London Brain Bank for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Introduction

The Brain Bank was established in 1989 in the Department of Neuropathology, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. Its aim is to provide high quality, clinically and neuropathologically well-characterised human brain and spinal cord tissue to the neuroscience community. The Brain Bank is funded by the Medical Research Council and is now part of the MRC Centre for Neurodegeneration Research at the Institute of Psychiatry.

Director: Dr Safa Al-Sarraj - Consultant Neuropathologist, Head of Clinical Neuropathology.

Objectives of the MRC London Brain Bank

  1. Facilitate brain donation through an ethically approved programme of informed consent for cohort studies and ad-hoc donations.
  2. Provide pathological diagnosis to the relatives of brain donors according to the best national and international protocols.
  3. Dissemination of high quality brain tissue to neuroscience research.
  4. Maintain an ’open door’ policy for responding to requests without prejudice.
  5. Ensure optimum donor care and retain contact with donor families, informing them about diagnosis and progress in research.
  6. Disseminate and promote knowledge of brain banking through scientific meetings, public engagements and newsletters.
  7. Provide teaching, training information and educational resources for neuroscientists.
  8. Facilitate collaboration between basic research scientists, pathologists and clinicians.
  9. Maintain gold standards of excellence in brain banking for the archiving and storage of frozen and formalin fixed tissue.
  10. Participate in ethical training and consultation and implement the most recent ethical guidelines for donor recruitment through informed consent.

Neuroscience Research

Clinically and neuropathologically well characterised brain tissue is one of the most important resources for neurodegeneration research. It is especially valuable since for many psychiatric and neurological disorders there are, as yet, no suitable animal models. The Brain Bank focuses on neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), Frontotemperal dementias (FTD) and Motor Neurone Disease (MND) but we also hold a number of other disease collections including various movement disorders, HIV, Autism and Schizophrenia (see poster for examples of holdings). We also provide control brain and spinal cord tissue for comparative purposes and for basic neuroscience research. All information on tissue availability is stored on an easily accessible and frequently updated database.

Standardised dissection protocols are followed and material is available for research in frozen and/or formalin-fixed form. The Brain Bank is a leading member of Brain Net Europe, a consortium of 19 European brain banks that are working towards standardisation and best practice in all aspects of brain banking.

Poster: MRC London Brain Bank: a resource for neurodegeneration research

See Research Activities and Publications for ongoing studies and published articles using Brain Bank tissue and for links to research groups who work with donated tissue.

Requests for tissue

Wherever possible, the Brain Bank endeavours to provide suitable material to bona fide research groups, both at the local and national level. In order to consider a request, the Brain Bank requires details of the nature of the project for which tissue is to be used. See Requests for Tissue for examples of available tissue.

Conditions and proforma for tissue requests

Making a brain donation

There is a real need for brain donation in order to carry out vital research for a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders. For comparative purposes, there is an equally great need for brain tissue donated from healthy individuals who do not have a neurological or psychiatric condition (known as control tissue). All donations are gratefully received. Donor details are held in confidence and the Brain Bank operates under the regulation of the Human Tissue Authority. A donor information pack is available on request.

Making a brain donation for scientific research - Frequently Asked Questions

 

Brains for Dementia Research

The London Neurodegenerative Diseases Brain Bank is also part of a new initative - Brains for Dementia research. 
Brain tissue from regularly assessed individuals provides the very best resource for scientists working on understanding dementia. Linking progression of memory impairment with what is seen in the brain itself and comparing with normal brain tissue is essential to developing more effective treatments.
Brains for Dementia Research is a network between 5 centres (based in London, Oxford, Newcastle, Manchester and Cardiff universities) funded jointly by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust and Alzheimer’s Society. Brains for Dementia Research invites people diagnosed with a memory impairment (or dementia), and those who do not have a memory impairment (normal controls) to participate in monitoring of memory, thinking and behavior every one to two years prior to brain donation.
If you are interested in finding out more please call the BDR coordinating centre on 020 7848 8377, email bdr.office@kcl.ac.uk , or visit www.brainsfordementiaresearch.org.uk/ .
 

 

                                                                                                                       

 Image shows Tau pathology within the hippocampus (identified by the AT8 antibody against PHF Tau)