Thousands of Danish brains in plastic buckets
Witness History5 Dec 2023

Thousands of Danish brains in plastic buckets

In 1945, two Danish scientists opened an institute to study mental illnesses.

In the four decades until it closed, almost 10,000 brains were collected from dead psychiatric patients and stored in plastic buckets.

However, they were removed during autopsies without seeking permission from relatives. Following much debate in the 1990s, it was decided they should be used for research.

Now based in the University of Southern Denmark, the collection is believed to be the world’s largest brain bank. Scientists hope it can help our understanding of mental illness and brain disease.

Adrienne Murray speaks to pathologist and caretaker of the brains, Martin Wirenfeldt Nielsen.

(Photo: Brains stored in plastic buckets at the University of Southern Denmark. Credit: BBC)

Avsnitt(2000)

My dad created Mr Men and Little Miss

My dad created Mr Men and Little Miss

In 1971, advertising writer Roger Hargreaves's eight-year-old son Adam asked him an unusual question: 'What does a tickle look like?'Inspired, Roger got out his marker pens and created an orange chara...

6 Feb 10min

Austria's wine scandal

Austria's wine scandal

In 1985, government scientists discovered anti-freeze in bottles of fine Austrian wine. No one died or fell ill from drinking the poisoned wine, but the scandal nearly destroyed the country's wine-mak...

5 Feb 10min

Jimmy Carter visits Cuba

Jimmy Carter visits Cuba

In May 2002, former US President Jimmy Carter paid a controversial visit to Cuba, which had been subject to a US trade embargo for more than 40 years.The trip culminated in a speech, broadcast live on...

4 Feb 10min

Cuba's Mariel boatlift

Cuba's Mariel boatlift

In April 1980, thousands of Cubans tried to escape the country by claiming asylum at the Peruvian embassy in Havana. In response, Cuban President Fidel Castro opened the port of Mariel to anyone who w...

3 Feb 10min

The 'Jugroom Fort' rescue mission

The 'Jugroom Fort' rescue mission

In 2007, four British servicemen perched on the wings of an Apache helicopter in Afghanistan, in an audacious mission to rescue a fallen comrade. Lance Corporal Mathew Ford was part of a unit which ha...

2 Feb 10min

Ötzi: The Iceman of Bolzano

Ötzi: The Iceman of Bolzano

In September 1991, two German hikers found a dead body while walking through Europe’s Ötzal Alps. It turned out to be a perfectly preserved 5,000-year-old mummy. The archaeologist Konrad Spindler ins...

30 Jan 9min

The Kaohsiung Incident

The Kaohsiung Incident

On 10 December 1979, pro-democracy activists clashed with police in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.The incident, which happened during Taiwan's martial law period, paved the way for the transition to democracy.Rac...

29 Jan 10min

Chile's 'Penguin Revolution'

Chile's 'Penguin Revolution'

In 2006, hundreds of thousands of school children in Chile took over their schools and marched in the streets, in a protest about inequality in education. It was known as the "Penguin Revolution" bec...

28 Jan 9min

Populärt inom Samhälle & Kultur

en-mork-historia
podme-dokumentar
gynning-berg
p3-dokumentar
svenska-fall
aftonbladet-krim
skaringer-nessvold
killradet
mardromsgasten
hor-har
creepypodden-med-jack-werner
kod-katastrof
flashback-forever
rss-brottsutredarna
vad-blir-det-for-mord
rss-nemo-moter-en-van
blenda-2
rattsfallen
rss-mer-an-bara-morsa
historiska-brott