"I agree with the principle to an extent. However, in the case of school shooters, I don't think it can be justified. Same with rape. There's definitely a line, but like you said, those are the most extreme cases.
On the topic of mass…"
I Power
Scientific Research & Self-Development Activism
Brain Donations for Medical Science...what do you guys think?
Any questions? Comments? Opinions?
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Appeal for research brain donors
Brain tissue (BBC)
More donors are urgently needed
More people need to donate their brains to medical research if cures for diseases like dementia are to be found, UK scientists say.
They say research is being hampered by a gross shortage of brains and are urging healthy people as well as those with brain disorders to become donors.
Brain research has proved essential for finding new treatments - such as dopamine for Parkinson's disease.
Brain investigator Dr Payam Rezaie called the current situation "dire".
He said thousands more brains were needed to look for the cause and treatments for conditions like autism and Alzheimer's disease.
Most drugs already developed for brain-related diseases have relied on research using human brains
Dr Marie Janson of the Alzheimer's Research Trust
Dr Rezaie, from the Neuropathology Research Laboratory at the Open University, said: "For autism, we only have maybe 15 or 20 brains that have been donated that we can do our research on. That is drastically awful.
"We would need at least 100 cases to get meaningful data. But that is just one example. A lot of research is being hindered by this restriction."
Short supply
Professor James Ironside, of the Human Tissue Authority, which regulates the donation process, said as well as a shortage of diseased brains to study, there was a bigger problem of getting hold of healthy donor brains for comparison.
He said this was down to poor awareness rather than people being squeamish.
BRAIN BANK BREAKTHROUGHS
Discovery of L-dopa treatment for Parkinson's disease
Discovery of amyloid deposition in Alzheimer's disease
Discovery of Lewy bodies in dementia
Discovery of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Discovery of the role of glutamate in Schizophrenia
He helped set up a brain bank in Scotland to collect normal "control" brains from people who had died unexpectedly and needed an autopsy by law to establish the cause of death.
"We were surprised and pleased that over 90% of the relatives approached in this way gave consent." He said more needed to be done to raise public awareness.
Dr Kieran Breen, of the Parkinson's Disease Society, said over 90% of the brains in their bank at Imperial College London were from patients, with the remaining 10% of "healthy" brains donated by friends or relatives of patients.
"It is a question of awareness rather than anything else."
But he said scandals like Alder Hey - where organs were kept without consent - have put some off donating their organs to medical research.
"There is also confusion. Some people are under the impression that if they sign up for a donor card that will include donating their brain for research. But it won't.
BRAIN DONATION
Dr Lorna Wing, a retired expert who studied autism and helped change thinking about the condition as a spectrum disease rather than a single disorder, consented to donating the brain of her daughter, who had autism, after she died unexpectedly aged 49. "My husband and I still mourn her loss. One consolation for us is that we donated her brain and are donating ours in our wills."
"Donor cards are about donating organs for transplant, not for medical science."
He said anyone interested in becoming a donor should contact one of the 15-20 brain banks dotted around the UK.
The Medical Research Council is setting up a network to coordinate the existing brain banks from one central location. It is hoped this will make it simpler for those wanting to donate and for researchers to pool information and resources.
Dr Marie Janson, of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "Donated brains can be an immense help in the fight against dementia and are likely to become more important in the future.
"Most drugs already developed for brain-related diseases have relied on research using human brains.
"Unfortunately dementia research is still severely underfunded, and - if new treatments are not found - the number of people with dementia in the UK could increase from 700,000 to 1.5 million within a generation."
...................................
Appeal for research brain donors
Brain tissue (BBC)
More donors are urgently needed
More people need to donate their brains to medical research if cures for diseases like dementia are to be found, UK scientists say.
They say research is being hampered by a gross shortage of brains and are urging healthy people as well as those with brain disorders to become donors.
Brain research has proved essential for finding new treatments - such as dopamine for Parkinson's disease.
Brain investigator Dr Payam Rezaie called the current situation "dire".
He said thousands more brains were needed to look for the cause and treatments for conditions like autism and Alzheimer's disease.
Most drugs already developed for brain-related diseases have relied on research using human brains
Dr Marie Janson of the Alzheimer's Research Trust
Dr Rezaie, from the Neuropathology Research Laboratory at the Open University, said: "For autism, we only have maybe 15 or 20 brains that have been donated that we can do our research on. That is drastically awful.
"We would need at least 100 cases to get meaningful data. But that is just one example. A lot of research is being hindered by this restriction."
Short supply
Professor James Ironside, of the Human Tissue Authority, which regulates the donation process, said as well as a shortage of diseased brains to study, there was a bigger problem of getting hold of healthy donor brains for comparison.
He said this was down to poor awareness rather than people being squeamish.
BRAIN BANK BREAKTHROUGHS
Discovery of L-dopa treatment for Parkinson's disease
Discovery of amyloid deposition in Alzheimer's disease
Discovery of Lewy bodies in dementia
Discovery of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Discovery of the role of glutamate in Schizophrenia
He helped set up a brain bank in Scotland to collect normal "control" brains from people who had died unexpectedly and needed an autopsy by law to establish the cause of death.
"We were surprised and pleased that over 90% of the relatives approached in this way gave consent." He said more needed to be done to raise public awareness.
Dr Kieran Breen, of the Parkinson's Disease Society, said over 90% of the brains in their bank at Imperial College London were from patients, with the remaining 10% of "healthy" brains donated by friends or relatives of patients.
"It is a question of awareness rather than anything else."
But he said scandals like Alder Hey - where organs were kept without consent - have put some off donating their organs to medical research.
"There is also confusion. Some people are under the impression that if they sign up for a donor card that will include donating their brain for research. But it won't.
BRAIN DONATION
Dr Lorna Wing, a retired expert who studied autism and helped change thinking about the condition as a spectrum disease rather than a single disorder, consented to donating the brain of her daughter, who had autism, after she died unexpectedly aged 49. "My husband and I still mourn her loss. One consolation for us is that we donated her brain and are donating ours in our wills."
"Donor cards are about donating organs for transplant, not for medical science."
He said anyone interested in becoming a donor should contact one of the 15-20 brain banks dotted around the UK.
The Medical Research Council is setting up a network to coordinate the existing brain banks from one central location. It is hoped this will make it simpler for those wanting to donate and for researchers to pool information and resources.
Dr Marie Janson, of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "Donated brains can be an immense help in the fight against dementia and are likely to become more important in the future.
"Most drugs already developed for brain-related diseases have relied on research using human brains.
"Unfortunately dementia research is still severely underfunded, and - if new treatments are not found - the number of people with dementia in the UK could increase from 700,000 to 1.5 million within a generation."
Tags: anatomy, brain, debate, discovery, medical, new, science, solutions
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Grabreck on -
I'm kind of curious to know what's going on with my brain...not sure If I'd donate it...by the time they did that much in depth study on it...I wouldn't be around to hear the results of course....
eh...I wonder if I know that many people that are donating brains or other organs
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Permalink Reply by Dylan on -
I once heard that in about 40 years or so they will have methods of uploading our brains onto computers or whatever and if this works and there are no issues I'll follow suit and wait for my terrabyte disc to be inserted into whatever dimension they send me.... I wouldn't mind browsing the net for eternity (soo many porn sites still unvisited)
Either way though when I die, I die so I could care less who gets my organs....I plan to be cremated in the tradition of Indian culture where they burn your ass on a big pyre and allow your sould to be released through the burning of the ashes or whatever.
I can't imagine why anyone would object to this.... Religion preaches eternal life through the soul....not the body and even from a non-religious standpoint...who the fuck cares....YOU'RE DEAD!!!! so let it be... Science has been marking the upward surge of mankind for decades now so if my brain being sliced or bludgeoned by some igor look-alike motherfucker for the benefit of humanit good fucking riddance.... all it's done for me so far is get others the chance to call me a smart ass
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Permalink Reply by Danface on -
a terrabyte? you sure they'd need that much? :P hehe
uploading brains though.... so dodgy, there's an old film i can't remember the title of! >.< some guy ends up trapped as a small collection of energy/electricity, and starts controlling everything wherever he goes, internet and all. somehow finds himself a body... bleeds blue blood... please stop me if you recall the name!... anyone???
anyway :) it's dangerous stuff, so says the movie!
completely agree about not caring less, so much so that i still haven't really planned what happens to my body yet :P don't plan on dying for a long while yet... then again not many people do :) why would people not want their organs handed out for research/transplants? hmmm...
would it be wrong to say that, all those who don't agree to give their organs away once they're dead, shouldn't be entitled to transplants should anything go wrong when they're alive? :S perhaps see a few more people joining in on the fun, can't help but feel it's unfair though... meh, screw'em :)
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Permalink Reply by Stay on -
Uploading your brain... that reminded me of X-Files Season 5, Episode 11, "Kill Switch", where a guy uploaded his consciousness on the internet.. Cool episode.
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Permalink Reply by Alastair on -
well said. Who needs organs when your dead? I object to objecting entirely :P
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Permalink Reply by KJ on -
I think it's a great idea personally. I'm not using it anymore, and in a short while after death it will start to decompose, so why not use it for research.
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Permalink Reply by Danface on
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happy for them to do whatever the hell they want with my body bits once i'm dead, till then though :) i'd rather keep my brain, as it's like.. important or something :P
wonder how long it'll be before they can just grow their own, possible with them lovely lil stem cells i wonder.
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Permalink Reply by wakingside on -
It actually rather interesting how the taboo and fear of death has increased over time.
Just look at some of the rituals/ceremonies that were performed by both civilized people and indigenous. One that still stands out to me was these monks in Nepal or Tibet that would cut the flesh from the diseased and throw it to vultures.
I personally won't be donating my brain voluntarily. The resources they spend on that could save many more lives if used elsewhere,
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Permalink Reply by Danface on
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"cut the flesh from the diseased and throw it to vultures."
holy crap, while they were still alive and conscious?! (for the time being :P)... we're pretty damn lucky to live in a time where we understand all this stuff really :) though old shit we've figured out is always replaced by new... what with this thing still happening over in Gaza right now aswell.
i guess you're right bout the resources, though, your brain would also be nothing but a resource once on ice :) the more the merrier? i'd just like to think that some good could come of my body's existence, even after i've left for that next place (which i don't believe in :P it just sounds nice).
whatever happens to my body, won't make a difference to me in the slightest once i'm gone is all. so i can benefit from the knowledge right now :) that if i do happen to die, chances are i won't just rot in the ground, but help a few people on my way there.
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Grabreck on
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You think that's weird...I can top that one. I was watching either the discovery channel or history channel a few years back. I guess in some cultures cannibalism was normal after death...family members..particularly mothers would eat their children after they died if they did before them...a way of taking them back in I guess. I guess I can kinda understand but i disagree with a ritual like that.
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