Brain banking
At a closed meeting on the biochemistry of mental disorders in Geneva three decades ago, the late Seymour Kety proposed that "brain banks" be established in regional centres. His idea was that the brains, each with a diagnosis, would be available in whole or dissected parts to established investigators, to help in the search for biochemical factors in mental disease. His proposal emerged as follows: "Centres should be established to facilitate the exchange of information at a number of levels. Such centres might facilitate the exchange of specimens of body fluids and autopsy material, and would be concerned with collecting and making available information on rare conditions. ..." The reference is as follows: World Health Organization Technical Report Series, No. 427. Biochemistry of mental disorders. Report of a WHO Scientific Group. Geneva, 1969." T. L. Sourkes, Dept. of Psychiatry, McGill University, 1033 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, Canada H3A 1A1