The Neuropathology Core has been in operation since 1985 and continues to play a vital role to the Mount Sinai ADRC. The Neuropathology Core serves to obtain autopsy-derived brain specimens from individuals who have been evaluated and followed longitudinally by the Clinical Core. We strive to obtain brain specimens with a short post-mortem interval and for the entire specimen collection the median postmortem interval is less than 6 hours. The specimens are dissected and preserved in a manner that maximizes their utility for the needs of both the proposed studies within the Center as well as other AD and aging-related research projects that we actively contribute to. Our procedure includes snap freezing dissected portions derived from one half of the brain specimen and fixing the other half in freshly prepared paraformaldehyde. The dissection protocol in place allows for the preparation of selected regions of the brain in such a way that the non-biased sampling techniques of stereology can be applied to quantify normal and pathologic features. A detailed neuropathologic workup is carried out to establish a neuropathologic diagnosis as well as to document the extent and distribution of relevant neuropathologic lesions. These data are entered into an extensive data base which can be integrated with the clinical data base in order to explore cliniconeuropathologic relationships. Because this Brain Bank has been continuously operating for approximately 24 years, an efficient and effective operating structure for the Brain Bank already exists. The tissues we have collected have been extensively used in a wide range of studies. They are requested by numerous researchers within the ADRC, the greater Mount Sinai research community and by many other investigators throughout the US and even internationally. The overall aim of this core is to continue to maintain and operate the Brain Bank in such a way as to provide state-of-the-art diagnoses, quantify the extent and distribution of relavent neuropathologic lesion, and satisfy the needs of the cores and projects in the ADRC as well as current and future requirements of the research community both at Mount Sinai and elsewhere.
The chief function of the Neuropathology Core is to provide state-of-the-art diagnostic services, collection of well-prepared brain material, and distribution of samples for cutting edge research, locally as well as in cooperative research across Centers and with other researchers outside of Centers. In addition, this Core has also played a major role in numerous clinicopathologic studies of AD.
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