Netherlands Brain Bank

The Netherlands Brain Bank

The Netherlands Brain Bank (NBB) is a non-profit organization that collects human brain tissue of donors with a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders, but also of non-diseased donors. This brain tissue, together with an anonymized summary of a donor’s medical record, is sent to scientific researchers worldwide, with the ultimate aim of increasing our understanding of the human brain and to develop therapies for neurological and psychiatric diseases.

Important notice

The NBB will launch a new online tissue database, including an integrated tissue application form, expected to go live in early May 2025. From that moment on, tissue requests can only be submitted via this new online system.

If you are currently preparing a request for tissues, please be aware that we will no longer accept application forms downloaded from this website once the new online database is live. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

The new database will be accessible via e-nbb.org, which will continue to link to the current database until the launch. For updates, please keep an eye on e-nbb.org and this website.

Brain samples for scientific research

The NBB has an open access policy and researchers affiliated to universities, other non-profit organizations, and pharmaceutical companies from all over the world can apply for samples. A scientific committee reviews all applications based on scientific quality and feasibility.

NBB has dedicated programs to increase the availability of samples for research on Multiple Sclerosis (NBB-MS) and Psychiatric diseases (NBB-PSY).