Human postmortem studies are carried out using the donated bodies of people who have died. In the case of HD, postmortem studies have been very important in locating the specific parts of the brain that HD affects. In comparing postmortem HD brains with non-HD brains, doctors have found that HD brains often show damage or decay in the basal ganglia, whereas no damage or decay is seen in the non-HD brains. (For more information about the basal ganglia and the affects of HD on the brain, click here). Postmortem studies also offer insight into some of the cellular events that take place in the brains of people with HD. For instance, by using very special staining techniques, postmortem studies have investigated the presence of nuclear inclusions (NIs) (For more information about NIs and huntingtin protein aggregation, click here). Understanding NIs and other cellular phenomena will be tremendously helpful in developing future treatments for HD. For this reason, postmortem studies are a very important type of HD research.
Last Modified: 1-28-04
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