Welcome to the website for the MRC Brain and Tissue Banks in Edinburgh.
The purpose of these three Banks is to collect donated samples from the brain and other organs of the body during post mortem examination, and to make these available for medical research. All the samples stored in the Edinburgh Banks are fully authorised for research by families and ethically approved for research use in accordance with the terms of current UK Human Tissue legislation. During the last 100 years or so, much of our knowledge of brain disorders has come from the study of post mortem tissues, based on identifying the differences between diseased and control (normal) brains. Advances in the diagnosis and treatment, as well as understanding the genetic background, of disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson’s disease and the effects of head injury have all depended on research using Brain Bank resources in different countries.