The Human Brain Bank is a nationally significant research resource helping scientists to better understand the human brain and the neurological conditions that affect it.
The Neurological Foundation has supported the Human Brain Bank since its earliest beginnings. What began in 1994 with funding for a minus-80 degree freezer has grown into one of New Zealand’s most important neurological research resources.
Today, the Brain Bank supports researchers studying conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease and Huntington’s disease, helping advance understanding, diagnosis, treatment and care.
Learn more about the Brain Bank at brainbank.ac.nz
The Human Brain Bank holds donated brain tissue from more than 1,000 whole brains, alongside thousands of samples donated through neurosurgical procedures.
These donations give researchers an invaluable opportunity to study the changes linked to neurological conditions and compare them with healthy brain tissue. This work helps build knowledge that can improve diagnosis, treatment and care for future generations.
The Human Brain Bank depends on ongoing support to preserve donated tissue, maintain specialist facilities, and make this resource available to researchers in New Zealand and around the world.
Your donation helps sustain the infrastructure needed for future neurological discovery.
You can make a donation online or call us toll-free on 0508 272 467.
Brain donation is a generous act that can make an enduring contribution to neurological research.
The Human Brain Bank provides information for people considering brain donation, including the steps involved and how families are supported through the process.
To request an information pack, email brainbank@auckland.ac.nz, call 09 923 6072, or visit brainbank.ac.nz/faq.
We know the history of every brain we research thanks to our close relationships with the families, that’s only possible in a small country like New Zealand, and it means our tissue is in demand all over the world.
Distinguished Professor Richard Faull, Centre for Brain Research
