Brain banks

Recent articles

Two slides feature human brains, with a third slide featuring the silhouette of a brain.

Exclusive: Recruitment issues jeopardize ambitious plan for human brain atlas

A lack of six new brain donors may stop the project from meeting its goal to pair molecular and cellular data with the functional organization of the cortex.

By Calli McMurray
9 May 2025 | 6 min read
A brain slice under a microscope.

Preprint questions validity of postmortem brain studies

But the alternatives, including living-brain biopsies, raise logistical and ethical questions, experts say.

By Katie Moisse
5 June 2023 | 6 min read
Illustration of large globe shaped like a brain sitting in center of room and showing Latin America prominently.

Diversifying autism brain banks: Q&A with Verónica Martínez-Cerdeño

The postmortem brain tissue available for autism research is overwhelmingly from people of Western European heritage. Verónica Martínez-Cerdeño and her colleagues are working to change that.

By Anna Goshua
25 October 2021 | 6 min read
Human brain tissue

Autism brain bank doubles amount of available tissue

Autism BrainNet, a repository of postmortem brains, has new tissue from more than 150 brains, including 59 from people with confirmed or possible autism.

By Hannah Furfaro
15 March 2019 | 2 min read

Analyzing postmortem brains for autism? Proceed with caution

Any study of postmortem brains must control for artifacts, which are pervasive in brain tissue.

By Manuel Casanova
5 March 2019 | 6 min read

Internal recordings of human brain may offer insight into autism

A technique called intracranial electroencephalography can reveal brain functions with great sensitivity and may ultimately unearth the underpinnings of autism.

By Ralph Adolphs, Shuo Wang
14 August 2018 | 5 min read

Cerebral palsy connection; misleading expressions; multiple maladies and more

New evidence links autism and cerebral palsy at the genetic level, facial expressions tend to mislead, and many health conditions accompany autism.

By Emily Willingham
18 May 2018 | 4 min read

Adult assessment; fragile therapy; neuron nirvana and more

An interview for diagnosing adults on the spectrum clears its first hurdle, a fragile X drug eases multiple features of the syndrome in a mouse model, and a brain bank chronicles the beautiful diversity of neurons.

By Emily Willingham
17 November 2017 | 3 min read
Capitol building with reflections Washingtom DC, USA

Takeaways from SfN 2017

After five days and more than 13,000 abstracts, the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C., has drawn to a close.

By Claire Cameron
16 November 2017 | 3 min read
Brain bank slice of brain in lab

Banking on brains for clues to autism

New initiatives aim to increase brain donations for autism research and maximize what scientists can learn from these precious specimens.

By Katie Moisse
1 November 2017 | 20 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Illustration of an open journal featuring lines of text and small illustrations of eyes and mouths.

Autism-linked genes alter sleep behavior, and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 13 April.

By Jill Adams
14 April 2026 | 2 min read
Illustration of a monkey pushing a button.

This paper changed my life: Erin Calipari ponders the nuances of rewarding and aversive stimuli

A 1960s study by Kelleher and Morse found that lever pressing in squirrel monkeys depended not on whether they received a reward or shock, but on the rules of the task. This taught Calipari to think deeply about factors that influence how behavior is generated and maintained.

By Erin Calipari
14 April 2026 | 5 min read
Illustration of a sheet of paper with a topography map-like pattern on it.

Why neural foundation models work, and what they might—and might not—teach us about the brain

These models can partly generalize across species, brain regions and tasks, suggesting that a set of machine-learnable rules govern neural population activity. But will we be able to understand them?

By Juan Gallego
13 April 2026 | 8 min read