'Tis the Season For Giving Brains

Until the mid 1950s, organ transplants were mostly the stuff of science fiction. They became a reality in Boston in 1954. That's when a doctor at Brigham and Women's Hospital performed the first successful kidney transplant.

It was a major breakthrough in solving the problem of organ rejection, and it led to an increased need for organ donations--not only for transplants, but also for medical research.

This year again in Boston, there was a call for the donation of brains, especially those of athletes. The Sports Legacy Institute — in collaboration with Boston Medical Center — is building a "brain bank" to study the relationship between repeated concussions and early forms of dementia and Alzheimer's Disease.

WBUR's Meghna Chakrabarti reports.