Dark secret: they find almost 10 thousand brains in a basement in Denmark

An open secret, a rumor and a story that was whispered in some parts of Denmark it became a reality after finding more than 9,000 brains of people with mental health disorders kept at a university in the city of Odense.

brain research

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In 1945, at the end of the World War II, Erik Strömgren, an eminent psychiatrist decided to develop a project that would allow him to study the causes of mental illness in thousands of patients. At the time, autopsies in psychiatric patients were routinely practiced and without great investigations, until the doctor strömgren he came up with the idea of ​​removing the brains from the corpses and keeping them for look for the causes of schizophrenia, dementia depression and bipolarity.

There was no law restricting the use of brains, in fact, in Denmark patients diagnosed with mental illness They had to apply for a special permit to be able to get married. this was abolished in 1989

Without the consent of the deceased or their families, a total of 9,479 brains were removed (the largest collection in the world) which were preserved in white containers with formaldehyde.

For thomas ersleva historian of medical science and research adviser at the Aarhus Universityalmost half of the psychiatric patients died after the Second World War and until the early 1980s, they were ‘stripped’ of their brains.

Jesper Vaczy Kraghhistorian of psychiatry, explained the details of the project for the news agency AFP.

”It was experimental research. (They thought) they could discover something about the location of mental illnesses,” he explained.

The impressive collection of brains to treat diseases

end of collection

In 1982, the European country decided to put an end to this type of practice and the issue was the epicenter of debate for the desecration of corpses that was carried out for four decades and ethics in science studies.

The lack of financing and the forgetfulness of the project in aarhus, It was key for the secret to come to light. in 2018 Dr Martin Wirenfeldt Nielsen, pathologist at the University of Southern Denmark, in Odense was contacted to offer him the collection.

“The first time I found out about its magnitude was when they decided to move it here” and he asked himself, how can almost 10,000 brains be moved?” he explained.The more than 9,000 brains were transported in white buckets, and identified with a number made with a black marker. They arrived in Odense where they currently rest, waiting for their future to be defined.

Collection Details

Of the 9,479 brains found, more than 5 thousand suffered from dementia; almost 2,000 had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, in addition to the 300 with depression. Much of the collection is intact without being studied, but they could be keys to learning more about neurological and mental pathologies.

Source: Elcomercio