Postmortem studies

Postmortem studies are a type of neurobiological research, which provides information to researchers and individuals who will have to make medical decisions in the future.^[1] Postmortem researchers conduct a longitudinal study of the brain of an individual, who has some sort of phenomenological condition (i.e. cannot speak, trouble moving left side of body, Alzheimer's, etc.) that is examined after death. Researchers look at certain lesions in the brain that could have an influence on cognitive or motor functions.^[2] These irregularities, damage, or other cerebral anomalies observed in the brain are attributed to an individual's pathophysiology and their environmental surroundings.^[3] Postmortem studies provide a unique opportunity for researchers to study different brain attributes that would be unable to be studied on a living person.^[4]

Postmortem studies allow researchers to determine causes and cure for certain diseases and functions.^[4] It is critical for researchers to develop hypotheses, in order to discover the characteristics that are meaningful to a particular disorder.^[3] The results that the researcher discovers from the study will help the researcher trace the location in the brain to specific behaviors.^[2]

When tissue from a postmortem study is obtained it is imperative that the researcher ensures the quality is adequate to study. This is specifically important when an individual is researching gene expression (i.e. DNA, RNA, and proteins). Some key ways researchers monitor the quality are by determining the pain level/time of death of the individual, pH of the tissue, refrigeration time and temperature of storage, time until the brain tissue is frozen, and the thawing conditions. As well as finding out specific information about the individual's life such as: age, sex, legal/illegal substance use, and a treatment analysis of the individual.^[4]^[5]

^ Breeze, A. G., Statham, H., Hackett, G. A., Jessop, F. A., & Less, C.C. (2012). Perinatal postmortems: What is important to parents and how do they decide?. Birth: Issues In Perinatal Care, 39(1), 57-64. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-536X.2011.00513.x
^ ^a ^b Sternberg, R. J., & Sternberg, K. (2012).Cognitive Psychology (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
^ ^a ^b Yehuda, R. (2004). Commentary on 'Brain Environment Interactions: Stress, posttraumatic stress disorder, and the need for a postmortem brain collection': Understanding heterogeneous effects of trauma exposure: Relevance to postmortem studies of PTSD. Psychiatry: Interpersonal And Biological Processes, 67(4), 391-397. doi:10.1521/psyc.67.4.391.5672
^ ^a ^b ^c McCullumsmith, R. E., & Meador-Woodruff, J. H. (2011). Novel approaches to the study of postmortem brain in psychiatric illness: Old limitations and new challenges. Biological Psychiatry, 69(2), 127-133. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.09.035
^ Pidsley, R., & Mill, J. (2011). Epigenetic studies of psychosis: Current findings, methodological approaches, and implications for postmortem research. Biological Psychiatry, 69(2), 146-156. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.03.029

[:0-1] Breeze, A. G., Statham, H., Hackett, G. A., Jessop, F. A., & Less, C.C. (2012). Perinatal postmortems: What is important to parents and how do they decide?. Birth: Issues In Perinatal Care, 39(1), 57-64. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-536X.2011.00513.x

[:1-2] Sternberg, R. J., & Sternberg, K. (2012).Cognitive Psychology (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.

[:2-3] Yehuda, R. (2004). Commentary on 'Brain Environment Interactions: Stress, posttraumatic stress disorder, and the need for a postmortem brain collection': Understanding heterogeneous effects of trauma exposure: Relevance to postmortem studies of PTSD. Psychiatry: Interpersonal And Biological Processes, 67(4), 391-397. doi:10.1521/psyc.67.4.391.5672

[:3-4] McCullumsmith, R. E., & Meador-Woodruff, J. H. (2011). Novel approaches to the study of postmortem brain in psychiatric illness: Old limitations and new challenges. Biological Psychiatry, 69(2), 127-133. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.09.035

[:4-5] Pidsley, R., & Mill, J. (2011). Epigenetic studies of psychosis: Current findings, methodological approaches, and implications for postmortem research. Biological Psychiatry, 69(2), 146-156. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.03.029

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