Thousands of Danish brains in plastic buckets
In 1945, a collection that would amass 9,479 brains was started
Witness History · BBC World Service
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Show Notes
In 1945, two Danish scientists opened an institute to study mental illnesses.
In the four decades until it closed, almost 10,000 brains were collected from dead psychiatric patients and stored in plastic buckets.
However, they were removed during autopsies without seeking permission from relatives. Following much debate in the 1990s, it was decided they should be used for research.
Now based in the University of Southern Denmark, the collection is believed to be the world’s largest brain bank. Scientists hope it can help our understanding of mental illness and brain disease.
Adrienne Murray speaks to pathologist and caretaker of the brains, Martin Wirenfeldt Nielsen.
(Photo: Brains stored in plastic buckets at the University of Southern Denmark. Credit: BBC)