Mind over Matter: Exploring brain donation and its role in biomedical science - extension (360G-Wellcome-082415_Z_07_A)

Recent scandals surrounding the unconsented retention of bodily parts have heightened public anxiety about the collection of human tissue for use in bio-medical research. This has resulted in a marked decline in willingness to donate bodily organs and tissues for such purposes. This award would fund a groundbreaking multimedia installation that highlights the contribution that Britain's oldest prospective brain donors (now aged in their 90s) are set to make to the 21st century technoscientific project of finding cures for debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Photographic portraits of the donors (unprecedented in the history of such research) will be supplemented by audio recordings of their personal philosophies on life, death, disease and donation. Interactive touch screens will provide scans of their brains and information on the ways in which these, and the brains themselves, will be employed after their deaths. The exhibition will illustrate the vitally important role that brain donation plays in the analysis and cure of neurological disease and celebrate their role in this important project. Audience members will be encouraged to reflect on their own attitudes towards the practice of bodily donation and to record their thoughts and feelings on the subject. The aim of the project is to begin to rehabilitate the practice of bodily donation in the public imagination. The exhibition will be mounted at the Science Museum or ICA and will be accompanied by a catalogue and a website providing an on-going interactive platform for exploration of the project by the public.