Brain Tissue Collection for Neuropathological Studies

The purpose of this study is to collect and study the brain tissue of deceased individuals to learn more about the nervous system and mental disorders. Information gained from donated tissue may lead to better treatments and potential cures for nervous system and mental disorders. This study will ask relatives of deceased individuals to donate the brains of their deceased relatives to allow further study of neurological and psychiatric disorders. We do not accept prospective donations. The knowledge of how affected tissue deviates from normal control tissue is an integral part of fully understanding a neurological or psychiatric disorder. The purpose of this protocol is to establish a coordinating program with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Washington, DC, the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Central District, and Virginia the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Northern District for the donation of brain tissue. Dissected brain tissue from selected brain regions, including but not limited to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampal formation, will be assembled from large cohorts of normal controls and schizophrenic subjects. The expression of mRNA and protein for selected molecules, chosen on the basis of their genetic association with schizophrenia, will be measured with a variety of assays including but not limited to qPCR and Western blots. Outcome measures are the statistical comparison within normal controls of mRNA and/or protein levels in groups segmented by genotype. Similar comparisons will be made between schizophrenic cohorts and normal controls, in a diagnosis by genotype analysis with an ANOVA, or when appropriate an ANCOVA (controlling for variables such as age, race, gender, and postmortem interval).