Rick Jervis and Doug Stanglin

USA TODAY

AUSTIN -- The mystery of the missing brains at the University of Texas

appeared solved Wednesday afternoon.

UT officials released a statement saying the 100 brains believed missing from a neuroscience lab were actually destroyed in 2002 as part of routine disposal of biological waste.

"We believe the workers disposed of between 40 and 60 jars, some of which contained multiple human brains, and worked with a biological waste contractor to do so safely," the statement read.



University officials also denied earlier claims that the missing brains had surfaced at another university and said they had "no evidence" that one of the missing brains belonged to Charles Whitman, the infamous UT campus sniper, "though we will continue to investigate those reports."

The missing organs, which represent about half of the university's original collection, had been stored in jars of formaldehyde in a closet in the university's Animal Resources Center, where studies of human brains also occur, prior to the building's renovation, it said.

The brains have been used by neuroscience students to study everything from Huntington's disease to Parkinson's disease, depression, strokes and other disorders.

The Animal Resources Center originally got the organs in 1986 from the Austin State Hospital, formerly known as the Texas State Lunatic Asylum, under a "temporary possession" agreement.

The specimens were assembled by Dr. Coleman de Chenar, a resident pathologist at ASH. They were taken from deceased patients at the hospital from the 1950s through the 1970s, when surgical lobotomies and electroshock therapy were common.

The collection included brains of patients inflicted with dementia, meningitis and Down's syndrome, as well as post-encephalitic Parkinson patients who had been infected with the flu virus around 1918.

The realization that some of the brains had vanished stemmed from the research of a local photographer, Adam Voorhes, who became fascinated with the all-but-forgotten collection and started asking questions. His photo book, Malformed: Forgotten Brains of the Texas State Mental Hospital, is due out this month.

All identifying data was removed from the specimens when the center took them in.



Charles Whitman, 25, killed 16 people, including his mother and wife, before he was fatally shot by police in 1966.

Whitman, who had complained of debilitating headaches, irrational thoughts and "violent impulses," had suspected he suffered from mental illness and left a note requesting his brain be studied.

He said he hoped that there would be an autopsy on his body "to see if there is any visible physical disorder."



De Chenar performed Whitman's autopsy and found a small tumor in his brain and purportedly added the organ to the collection. Thus, Whitman's body was buried in a family plot in Florida, but his brain stayed behind in Austin.

A state commission report on the shootings later found that "the highly malignant brain tumor conceivably could have contributed to his inability to control his emotions and actions."

As for the missing organs, the university said in a statement that it will investigate "the circumstances surrounding this collection since it came here nearly 30 years ago" and is "committed to treating the brain specimens with respect." It says the remaining brain specimens on campus are used "as a teaching tool and carefully curated by faculty."

The 100 remaining brains at the school have been moved to the Norman Hackerman Building, where they are being scanned with high-resolution resonance imaging equipment.

"As researchers and teachers, we understand the potential scientific value of all of our holdings and take our roles as stewards of them very seriously," the statement said.



Contributing: Associated Press

