There's only one place in the world where you can view row after
row of brains afflicted by mad cow disease, Alzheimer's, and
alcoholism. It's Lima's Museo de Cerebros, home to the largest
collection of gray matter that can be viewed by the public. More
than 3,000 samples of diseased brains and fetuses have been
assembled by neuropathologist Diana Rivas for the Brain Museum.
The museum is part of Peru's Institute of Neurological Science,
and while academics come from around the world to examine Rivas'
collection, she's much more interested in educating the public
about brain disease. She hopes that, if folks can see her
damaged brains firsthand, they'll think more about the health of
their own noggins. The Brain Museum isn't quite the largest
collection of brains in the world. Harvard Brain Tissue Resource
Center at McLean Hospital has around 7,000 specimens, but it's
brains aren't open to the public. So just how has Rivas amassed
such an impressive collection? It helps that she supervises 100
autopsies a yea