A brain bank, or biorepository, is a collection of donated brain tissue used for research and education. There are less than 200 brain banks worldwide, highlighting how precious donated tissue is. The role of a brain bank is to accurately catalog, store, and distribute this tissue to investigators to advance their research projects and provide a better understanding of how our brains work and are affected by disease. Additionally, many brain banks, including the Iowa Neuropathology Resource Laboratory (INRL), provide histology services to help researchers assess microscopic changes in brain tissue. 

Each brain bank has its own donation criteria. Some banks are exclusive to one disease, while others, like the INRL, are open to all individuals. Other brain banks in the Midwest include the Center for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease at Northwestern and the Michigan Brain Bank. National brain banks include the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center and the NIH NeuroBioBank, which are multi-institutional consortiums that distribute tissue in addition to cognitive and clinical data.

Not all biorepositories or tissue banks store brain tissue— the Maternal Fetal Medicine Tissue Bank Research Program at Iowa stores placenta, umbilical cord blood, and amniotic fluid, while the Iowa Lions Eye Bank stores ocular tissue.

For more information on the history of brain banking, check out these articles:

• From brain collections to modern brain banks: A historical perspective
• Brain banking in the United States and Europe: Importance, challenges, and future trends