Neurochemical Studies in Human Postmortem Brain Tissue

The use of human postmortem brain tissue in neurochemical and neuropharmacological research has received increasing attention over the past two decades. In fact, there is one work that, more than any other, can be identified as being responsible for the interest in this approach It was Birkmayer and Hornykiewicz who, having observed a deficit in the content of the (then newly recognized) neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) in brain tissue taken postmortem from patients with Parkinson’s disease, set about to counteract this deficit in living patients by treatment with L-dopa The identificatron of an abnormally low transmitter concentratron and its supplementation by the administration of the appropriate biochemical precursor has revolutionized the treatment of this disease (Ehringer and Hornykrewrcz, 1960 ; Birkmayer and Hornykiewicz, 1961) . It has also served to motivate neurochemists to study other neurological and psychiatric diseases using postmortem brain tissue Despite the large amount of data that this approach has provided, and with it the increased understanding of neurochemical dysfunction in these disorders, such a success story has yet to be repeated.