Jean Paul Vonsattel, MD is the director of the New York Brain Bank. At the autopsy, Dr. Vonsattel and other neuropathologists, including Steven Chin, MD, PhD and James Goldman, MD, PhD, examine brains for cytoskeletal protein abnormalities (tangles), amyloid deposition (plaques), synaptic density, and neuronal cell loss. They also give a definitive diagnosis, which can only be made upon examination of the brain. Dr. Vonsattel has implemented a state-of-the-art barcode inventory system to track the storage and disbursement of the tissue samples. Requests for tissue samples are made online at the Brain Bank website which is linked to the inventory database. This computerized system will facilitate the process of retrieving and distributing samples to clinicians and scientists at Columbia University and other institutions.