The brain of Patient H.M.
Patient H.M. became an iconic case in neuroscience when he developed a peculiar form of amnesia after parts of his brain were removed during surgery in 1953. After H.M.'s death in 2008, Jacopo Annese and his colleagues at the Brain Observatory in San Diego dissected his frozen brain into 2,400 thin slices, to learn about his brain lesions that caused his amnesia.
The frozen brain
Image of the frozen brain at the level of the temporal lobes during the cutting procedure.
Cutting process
Jacopo Annese dissecting the brain of H.M.
Cutting process
Image of the frozen brain at the level of the frontal lobes during the cutting procedure.
Preparing solutions
Researcher Paul Maechler making a solution to treat the brain tissue.
Brain slides
Tissue sections mounted on glass slides before staining.
Brain slides
Researcher Colleen Sheh examining a thin slice of the brain.
