I’ve always wanted to donate my brain to science when I pass. I had 500+ seizures (focal aware seizures) for years and it took a long time to get doctors to help. Eventually I had my right temporal lobe removed to treat the seizures. I’d love to donate my brain for epilepsy research but stuff like this makes you really wonder… 😬
We donated my mom's brain and spinal cord to a university. We contacted them ahead of her death by a few months and had everything ready to go so that when she passed everything could happen quickly since you only have so much time to do it. Once she passed, I called the contact while her body was sent to the city to remove the brain and spinal cord and then it was sent to the university and we received the body back for cremation locally. We later received a report about what was found in her tissues and what type of dementia she had. If you are in contact with a university research group, it's much more reputable than some random institute.
I studied speech therapy and had to do an anatomy class of the head, neck, and spine. It was incredibly helpful to be able to learn from donors like your mom (it was a very hard class. I barely passed as it was, and probably would've struggled more without the hands on aspect).
I remember on the first day feeling a little uneasy until the lecturer explained to us that the donors and their families had kindly allowed us to learn from them. It really helped me to lock in and was so appreciated.
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u/neurotic_queen May 06 '26
I’ve always wanted to donate my brain to science when I pass. I had 500+ seizures (focal aware seizures) for years and it took a long time to get doctors to help. Eventually I had my right temporal lobe removed to treat the seizures. I’d love to donate my brain for epilepsy research but stuff like this makes you really wonder… 😬