Most of the human brains missing from a University of Texas collection were disposed of years ago because faculty members determined that their poor condition rendered them unsuitable for research or teaching, the university said Wednesday.
The announcement by the university does not fully resolve the mystery of what happened to roughly half of a 200-brain collection that was transferred to the campus from the Austin State Hospital under a 1986 agreement. A pathologist at the mental hospital extracted the brains during autopsies of deceased patients dating back to the 1950s.
It’s possible that some of the brains were transferred from UT-Austin to another institution of higher learning.
“We’ve heard anecdotal suggestions that some specimens were sent to the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio,” said Gary Susswein, a spokesman for the Austin campus. “That would have been separate from the ones that were disposed of. We’re still running traps on that.”
A preliminary investigation by UT-Austin, led by Liberal Arts Dean Randy Diehl, found “no evidence” that any of the brain specimens came from UT Tower shooter Charles Whitman, “though we will continue to investigate those reports,” a university statement said. Whitman’s 1966 rampage eventually took 16 lives, including those of his mother and wife, whom he stabbed to death before climbing the Tower.
About 100 brains remain in UT-Austin’s possession. Researchers are scanning them with magnetic resonance imaging equipment for study.
Campus environmental health and safety officials, working in conjunction with a biological waste contractor, disposed of 40 to 60 jars, some containing multiple brains, in 2002, the university said. The specimens were incinerated as per the protocol, Susswein said.
Will Sansom, a spokesman for the San Antonio health campus, said it’s too early to say whether any of them ended up there.
UT-Austin said it would appoint an investigative committee to examine a variety of questions, including how the decision was made to dispose of the brains and how all brain specimens have been handled since the university received the collection.
The disposal apparently took place during a renovation of the Animal Resources Center, where the brains had been placed in basement storage, Susswein said.
The state hospital got rid of the brain collection because it did not want to incur the expense of complying with laws governing the disposal of a formaldehyde solution used to preserve the specimens, according to American-Statesman articles at the time. The solution, which had to be changed out annually, had been poured down the drain for years in violation of city and federal laws.
Several universities, including Harvard, sought to acquire the brains, but the hospital chose the Austin flagship so its researchers would still have access to what officials called the Neuropathology Museum Collection.
A new book, “Malformed: Forgotten Brains of the Texas State Mental Hospital,” prompted questions that led to UT’s investigation. University officials were surprised to learn that the psychology department professors who oversee the collection did not know the whereabouts of so many specimens. UT environmental workers recalled arranging for disposal.
The video includes images from Getty Images.
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