About NIMHANS Brain Bank
India's pioneer brain bank and the nodal centre of the national network.
NIMHANS Brain Bank, established in the Department of Neuropathology at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, is India's first and foremost human brain bank. For decades, NIMHANS has been a globally recognised centre of excellence in neuropathology, pioneering research into the human brain under Indian conditions.
As the nodal centre of the ICMR Brain Bank Network India, NIMHANS provides central coordination, develops and maintains common protocols, manages the centralised case database, and trains manpower across the satellite centres at AIIMS Bhubaneswar and PGIMER Chandigarh.
Our collection — the largest of its kind in India — includes fresh frozen tissue, formalin-fixed specimens, histological sections, and biological fluids representing a wide spectrum of neurological conditions from normal ageing to rare diseases. The accompanying histological atlas of the human brain developed at NIMHANS serves as a reference standard for the field.
The NIMHANS Brain Museum
The NIMHANS Brain Museum is one of Asia's finest neuropathological specimen museums. Housing hundreds of carefully preserved brain specimens illustrating the full spectrum of human neurological conditions, the museum serves as an invaluable resource for medical students, postgraduate trainees, researchers, and the public. Visit the Museum page →