The more than 9,000 brains from the psychiatric hospital are being transferred to a new brain research centre under the Region of Southern Denmark. Professor Gregers Wegener, who is currently in charge of the collection, is pleased that the brains are being preserved.

2018.05.17 | Henriette Stevnhøj

The more than 9,000 brains from the psychiatric hospital are being transferred to a new brain research centre under the Region of Southern Denmark. Model photo: Lars Kruse/AU.

What is probably the largest collection of brains from psychiatric patients in the world will avoid destruction and remain in Denmark. The University of Southern Denmark (SDU), the Region of Southern Denmark’s Mental Health Services and Odense University Hospital wish to take over the collection, and if everything goes to plan, their wish will be granted by the Central Denmark Region at the meeting of the regional council on 30 May.

The agreement on the transfer comes one year after the decision by the regional council to shut down the collection and follow the recommendation of Vice-dean for Research Ole Steen Nielsen and Department Head Kristjar Skajaa. Their argument for disposing of the collection was that its research value was not commensurate with the cost of moving and maintaining the collection in the new Skejby buildings. The regional council therefore decided that unless a worthy recipient was found, the collection would be destroyed in 2018. It now turns out that a recipient has been found in the form of the Region of Southern Denmark and SDU’s new brain research centre BRIGDE, which has the ambition of increasing the research-related utilisation of the collection for the benefit of patients, as they put it in the press release (link to PM) from the Region of Southern Denmark.

This is welcomed by Gregers Wegener, professor and head of the Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit at the Department of Clinical Medicine, where the collection is currently housed. He is pleased to see the positive assessment of the research potential by the Region of Southern Denmark.

"I’m genuinely pleased that the collection will survive and remain in Denmark. What concerned me most was that decades of work and major investments in building up and maintaining the brains would just disappear. This is a rare collection even in a worldwide context and the thought of losing it has been intolerable. Now I hope that some parts of our projects and knowledge can be carried on in the brain research being done under the Region of Southern Denmark," says Gregers Wegener.

Only the brains and accompanying medical records are being transferred to the new owners. Staff from the department in Risskov will not be affected.

Department head stands by decision

The collection of brains from psychiatric patients was founded in 1945 as the state hospitals in Denmark began removing brains from deceased patients suffering from diseases such as schizophrenia, depression and dementia, before sending them for examination at what was then the Brain Pathological Institute. Brains were collected until 1982, and in professional circles the collection is described as of research interest because the brains have not been exposed to modern medicine. 

Kristjar Skajaa, department head at the Department of Clinical Medicine, still stands by his decision not to pack the collection of brains together with all the other removal items when the old psychiatric hospital in Risskov is emptied and moved to Skejby.

"It’s impossible to shut down or phase out something like this without some regret and disagreement with the resolution. After the clarification process, my assessment was that the research value was too modest compared with the costs associated with moving and maintaining the collection for posterity. But I’m very pleased that the collection has found a new home in southern Denmark, and I hope that it can be of benefit in the future," says Kristjar Skajaa.

Link to the press release from the Region of Southern Denmark (in Danish).

Contact

Professor Gregers Wegener
Aarhus University, Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit
wegener@clin.au.dk
Mobile: (+45) 5171 7403

Department Head Kristjar Skajaa
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine
kristjar.skajaa@clin.au.dk
Tel: (+45) 7845 9000

Earlier articles about the brain collection: Tidligere artikler om hjernesamlingen: 

Day of reckoning for the brains postponed (12-12-17)
The regional council is shutting down the collection of brains... possibly (23-6-17)
The collection of brains at Risskov is being shut down (19-4-17)