Call for more donations of brains to help researchers discover new treatments for neurological disorders

Doctors and researchers are calling for donations of brains to conduct medical research into disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Speaking at the BA Festival of Science, at Trinity College, Dublin, Dr Kirstin Goldring from Imperial College London and Charing Cross Hospital is calling for more donations of brains to help researchers discover new treatments for neurological disorders.

Dr Goldrings comments: "Although the idea of carrying a donor card for organs such as hearts or lungs is generally accepted, the idea of one for brains has not taken off. While we have made big steps in new treatments for these disorders, a lack of brain samples has seriously hampered our efforts to date. Brain disorders can affect just about anyone, even those under the age of 45, and your brain could play a vital role in helping develop better drug treatments or even cures for diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's."

As well as brain tissue from individuals affected by Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, researchers also need samples from healthy individuals.

This is to compare how a diseased brain looks compared to a healthy brain. On average, the researchers receive only one donation from a healthy volunteer for every 25 from those suffering from one of the conditions.

To date brain donations have helped researchers develop new drugs and treatments, including L-DOPA. More recently, researchers have used donated tissue to identify chemicals called free radicals that may be involved in nerve cell death in Parkinson's.

Dr Goldring adds: "Although many feel squeamish about the idea of donating their brains to medical research, it really is vital that we get more samples to conduct research. With an increasingly ageing population, the incidence of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's is only likely to increase, making further research a priority."

Dr Goldring is the manager of the Parkinson's Disease Society Tissue Bank, started in 2002, and maintained by Imperial College London at Charing Cross Hospital, London. The Society supports the Tissue Bank as a major infrastructure resource for members of the Parkinson's research community who can obtain tissue from both Parkinsonian brains and 'control' brains for use in their research. Although the bank is run by Imperial and the PDS it is an international resource, from which scientists working in this area can request tissues for their research.