Inside a human brain bank, where frozen tubs preserve slices of spongy tissue

In plastic jars brimming with formaldehyde sit dozens of brains — each belonging to former teachers, doctors, accountants, plumbers — which are now bathing in preservation fluid for the sake of scientific research.

There are 82 brain banks in North America alone. This one lives in Bronx, New York, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

The bank opened in 1982 to better understand Alzheimer's patients. In 1990 it began looking at patterns of schizophrenia, too. And today, it keeps dozens of specimens sliced into thousands of pieces in an attempt to understand a raft of neurological disorders.

Here's what it's like inside the brain bank.

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Dr. Vahram Haroutunian has been the brain bank's director since the very beginning. He oversees the storage, preservation, and distribution of tissue to other banks for study.

In most cases, the bank stores more than a person's brain. It also collects cerebrospinal fluid, muscle tissue, and DNA.

Each brain gets tagged according to its particular donor and the neuropathology. Some arrive whole from families, while some get shipped from other labs.

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