September 8, 1994: Vol26n2: Beauty & Brains

An unusual museum devoted exclusively to the human brain, thought to
be the only installation of its kind in the U.S., opens officially at
UB today.
	The public is invited to the dedication ceremony, which will
be held from 4-6 p.m. in Room 360 in the Cary-Farber-Sherman (CFS)
Building on UB's South Campus.
	The UB Museum of Neuroanatomy contains no unsavory looking
masses of gray and white matter sloshing in jars of cloudy,
odoriferous formaldehyde. Harold Brody, professor of anatomy and cell
biology at UB for more than 30 years and the museum's creator, wanted
it to reflect the elegance of its subject.
	"The brain is so fundamentally beautiful," said Brody, a l96l
graduate of the UB medical school. "I wanted the displays also to be
attractive. I knew that if they didn't look appealing, it would turn
people off."
	Some 70 exquisitely dissected specimens resembling delicately
wrought sculptures hang suspended in crystalline liquid in individual
Plexiglas boxes, spotlights dramatizing their characteristic folds and
contours. Handmade pins tipped in blue, orange, green, lavender, red,
and light blue identify each specimen's features.
	Lining the walls are color photographs of the brain, along
with a series of X-rays, computerized-tomography (CT) scans,
magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) scans, and
positron-emission-tomography (PET) scans.
	The museum has been a spark in Brody's mind ever since he saw
a similiar installation in Copenhagen, Denmark, while studying there
on a Fulbright fellowship in l963.
	Medical students in Europe traditionally learned their anatomy
from such permanent exhibits because of the scarcity of cadavers for
dissection, Brody said. He helped to establish a successful donor
program at The University of Copenhagen, and brought back  the idea
for a neuroanatomy museum.
	Thirty years later, thanks to 30-year reunion gifts from his
Class of l96l, the medical school's Class of l962 and private
individuals, his idea has been transformed into an extensive
collection of specimens detailing the structure of the human brain
from many viewpoints.
	 One display reveals the medial surface of the right
hemisphere; another is delicately dissected to reveal each layer of
the brain. Other displays show the cranial nerve supply, the brain's
blood supply, and the path of nerve impulses in the brain that
ultimately produce vision.
	These and several dozen additional specimens fill l0 glass
display cases. Each specimen is accompanied by a written description
keyed to the color-coded pins. Leaving no details to chance, Brody,
along with his assistant, Thomas WietchyQan anatomy master's-degree
candidateQand Katerina Smith, a senior histology technician, made the
pins themselves from dental wire dipped in acrylic pigments and epoxy.
The specimens were dissected by Brody, Wietchy and several medical
students.
	Medical, dental and nursing students, occupational-therapy and
physical-therapy students, doctoral candidates in psychology and
speech communication, and hospital residents in neurology and
neurosurgery have been using the exhibits as study aids for more than
a year. But Brody wanted this exhibit to be used by
everyoneQkindergartners and neurosurgery students alikeQas a way to
learn about the grandest and most mysterious human organ. He is
particularly interested in bringing in students from area public
schools. Groups of high school students and students on campus for the
summer, already have toured the museum.
 	Brody will add specimens and additional materials as time and
money permit. In the meantime, he hopes to establish regular hours
when the museum will be open to the public.