Brain weight

What is brain weight?

Brain weight refers to the basic mass measurement of a post-mortem brain, either at time of autopsy (‘fresh’) or after formalin fixation (‘fixed’). Its ease of collection means it is a routine measurement at autopsy and has become a widely used tool for insight into brain integrity. If brain weight is altered, this provides a non-specific indication of neuropathology. It is often a presumed equivalent of the MRI findings of decreased brain volume.

What is the evidence for brain weight?

Moderate quality evidence suggests the brain of a person with schizophrenia is significantly lower in weight than a healthy brain. Moderate quality evidence suggests that male brain weight is significantly inversely correlated with age at disease onset, such that an earlier age at onset indicated a heavier brain weight.

October 2020

Last updated at: 5:05 am, 29th October 2020
To view documentation related to this topic download the files below
Fact Sheet Technical Commentary

NeuRA Libraries

Title Colour Legend:
Green - Topic summary is available.
Orange - Topic summary is being compiled.
Red - Topic summary has no current systematic review available.