Brain banks

Recent articles

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 listen
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

Wi-Fi flap; obsessive-compulsive link; brain catalog and more

Two researchers balk at talk that Wi-Fi and autism are linked, changes in an autism risk gene are tied to obsessive-compulsive traits in three species, and scientists plan to conduct a census of all of the brain’s cell types.

By Emily Willingham
27 October 2017 | 5 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

A repeating pattern of orange butterflies against a blue background.

‘Huge influx’ of neuroscientists migrates to Bluesky

Daily neuroscience-related posts on the social-media platform this week have increased more than 400 percent, on average, compared with October.

By Calli McMurray
21 November 2024 | 5 min read

Autism prevalence increasing in children, adults, according to electronic medical records

The uptick from 2011 to 2022 in the United States underscores a need for more services and research, the investigators say.

By Shaena Montanari
21 November 2024 | 2 min read

Immune cell interlopers breach—and repair—brain barrier in mice

The choroid plexus, the protective network of blood vessels and epithelial cells that line the brain’s ventricles, recruits neutrophils and macrophages during inflammation, a new study shows.

By Claudia López Lloreda
20 November 2024 | 6 min read