Background Recentevidence suggests thatthe brainweightof individuals over the age of 60 who commit suicide is significantlyhigher than inthose who die of natural causes. Aims Toascertainwhetherbrainweight is different inpeople of a younger agewho

Declaration of interest None. Salib & Tadros (2000) recently suggested that brain weight in people over 60 years of age who commit fatal self-harm is significantly higher than in those who die of natural causes. This was true for all suicide methods but there was no difference between suicide modes. Brain weight, structure and volume have been examined in several conditions. Courchesne et al (1999) reported that in 21 autopsy cases of autism, 17 brains were of normal weight, with 1 being microcephalic and another megalencephalic. Brown et al (1986) found that in schizophrenia, brain weight was reduced compared with age and gendermatched controls with affective disorders. Bruton et al (1990) showed that the brain weight of people with schizophrenia was lower than normal controls, even excluding other pathologies, whereas Hakim & Mathieson (1979) found similar results in Parkinson’s disease. Mueller et al (1998), using quantitative volumetric magnetic resonance imaging, reported that the widespread loss of brain volume in the aged is most likely to be due to the onset of preclinical dementia, and that the healthy elderly had a low rate of brain volume reduction. Regarding suicide, Szigethy et al (1994) found that the left adrenal weight is increased in suicide victims and several groups. Roy (1992) and Yehuda et al (1988) have suggested that there is hypothalamic–pituitary–axis dysregulation in severe depression and suicidal patients. Schroder & Saternus (1983) found that brain weight was higher in victims of hanging in the general population. Following the findings of Salib & Tadros (2000) we thought that it would be valuable to look at brain weight in suicide in a wider age range and also to compare suicide victims with those who died both accidentally and of natural causes. This would allow us to ascertain whether there was a difference in brain weight between those who have suicidal intent and those who do not. Methods of suicide could also be compared to see if these altered brain weight.