Jeremy Paxman donates brain to science

Jeremy Paxman has said he will donate his brain to charity after he dies. The reason is not to preserve his intellectual afterlife but to help scientists to research Parkinson’s disease. Paxman’s grey matter will be stored in a 'brain bank' at Imperial College London until small portions of it are needed by researchers to further their investigations into the debilitating disease that affects one in 500 Britons.
 
Also donating their brains to science are actress Jane Asher and television presenter John Stapleton. The donors came forwards after an appeal by the Parkinson's Disease Society which claims that scientists' work is being hindered by a lack of donated brains to work with. There are currently about 300 brains sorted in Imperial College's brain bank with a further 1,000 potential brains listed on the donor's register.

‘Donors can help to find a cure. After all, it's not as if you'll be needing it yourself’The 58-year-old Paxman said he hoped his gesture would encourage others to do the same. "There's currently no cure for Parkinson's, which affects 120,000 people," said the University Challenge and Newsnight presenter. "If you register to donate your brain, you can help to find a cure. After all, it's not as if you'll be needing it yourself."
 
Asher, 63, said that she had already planned to donate many parts of her body to science before she answered the Parkinson's Disease Society’s appeal. "I had already assumed that any bits that anyone wanted would be going to medical science," she said. ·