The donation of brain and other tissue Ethics of dementia
research A lot of research can be carried out on living people
but some of it cannot. As it is not yet possible to reproduce
the human brain in the laboratory and as it would be
unacceptable to take samples of the brain whilst the person is
alive, researchers are very much dependent on post mortem
donations of human tissue. Such tissue is needed not only from
people who had dementia but also from people who did not. The
brain tissue of people who did not have dementia (known as
control tissue) enables comparisons to be made with the tissue
from people with dementia. Control tissue is often much less
readily available than that from people with dementia, but both
are needed. In addition, brain tissue from people with other
conditions affecting the brain can also be used within dementia
research as it can help determine what makes dementia different
from other neurological conditions (Brains for Dementia
Research, 2011). Consenting to donation The donati