Largest collection of preserved human brains in Belgium

Q.  Which country boasts the largest collection of pickled brains?
- Published on 17 Sep 16

a. Belgium
b. Sweden
c. Iceland
d. Finland

ANSWER: Belgium
 
Largest collection of preserved human brains in BelgiumA collection in the psychiatric hospital of Duffel in north Belgium contains 3000 preserved/pickled brains, the largest such to date.

British neuropathologist John Corsellis collected and conserved the brains over 40 years between 1951 and the middle of the nineties
  • The collection is now reached Duffel; it is the largest brain collection available.

  • One of the main advantages of conducting research on brains from this era is that they are not impacted by certain medications that did not exist in that time.

  • Illness in its purest form can now be investigated.

  • Corsellis collection was kept in bell jars and Tupperware tubs in a musty psychiatric hospital in southeastern England, a collection taken from the mentally ill, epileptics, people with Alzheimer's and even boxers.

  • The original Corsellis collection numbered around 8,500 but the Belgian doctors have mainly taken those that relate to depression and schizophrenia.

  • Each preserved brain comes with its own medical file till the death of the patient.

  • The brains could uncover new discoveries in biological psychiatry science.

  • Brains are generally the most well protected organ in the human body and therefore difficult to get to.

  • Research conducted on living patients is limited by technology, explains Morrens. MRI scans cannot identify, for example, what kind of proteins or enzymes are activated by illness.

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