By their very nature, mental diseases cannot be studied solely using animal or cell models, but require tissue removed from subjects with mental illness, i.e., the brains of subjects with psychiatric disorders. This involves the creation and maintenance of biobanks of brain samples and databases containing the information necessary for the researcher who is doing research with those samples. A brain bank is an essential tool for the study of psychiatric diseases, providing samples to those research groups that meet a standard of scientific quality and working procedures.

The NeuroBiobank is primarily a research support service, but also plays a coalescing role (collaboration) among workers in the field of mental illness, by being a meeting point for researchers from different disciplines. Since numerous professionals are involved in its operation, it recruits forces for scientific work.

Biobanks promote accountability to society, by requiring that donation programs be made public. In order to attract donors, it is necessary to publicise the advances that are being made, the areas that are being worked on, and the use that is being made of public research funds, in addition to promoting medical care and providing advice to associations of psychiatric patients and their families.

Each donation means “a gift for hope”, encouraging the solidarity both of the donor with the biobank, and the biobank with the researcher at the time of the allocation. It is worthwhile to properly preserve valuable materials because, even if we are unable to use them, it is a certainty that someone who comes after us or from another place and time will be able to make significant progress.

The best performance of a tissue biobank is achieved within a co-operative network. In a research network, a biobank takes on a crucial role, since it is the most useful tool for optimising the use of a research sample. It becomes an instrument for collecting, preserving, and donating samples to serve the scientific community. Collaboration must be structured with an international vision.

Samples will be obtained from a brain donor recruitment program targeting both psychiatric patients and their families. The recruitment program will be conducted both on the clinical level, directly by the healthcare providers who care for the patients, and through associations of patients and family members.

The protection of personal data and guarantees of confidentiality will be carried out according to the principles and rules established by Article 5 of Law 14/2007, with the advice of the Data Protection Agency and corresponding internal agencies of the institutions linked with the CIBERSAM.