Injuries to the brain come inmany different forms, from traumatic brain injuries such as concussions and contusions toacquired brain injuries such as anoxia and hypoxia. In order to study these injuries, human cadavers have been used to simulate an in vivo subject condition. However, atthe instant of death, the brain begins its tissue decomposition process. Thisquick deterioration of brain tissue does not allow for a long timewindow to testthe cadaver where material properties are similar to in vivoconditions. The objective of this study was to determine a method to minimize brain tissue stiffness alterations inpost mortem human subjects (PMHS) using storage temperature control, antibiotics,and sodium bicarbonate. Studies have been conducted using temperature and antibiotics to slow down thisdegradation process for humantissue andorgans [17,23]. Csonge et al.(1995) used antibiotics to preserve human skinand identified a combination of Amphotericin, Ampicillin,and Ceftazidime that minimizedbreakdown of tissue over time. For anoxia and hypoxia, sodium bicarbonate has been used clinicallyto maintain an alkaline environment, inhibitingthe pH decrease thattriggers the degradation process. The use of antibiotics has not beenapplied to human brain tissue to observe if there are similar effects, and sodium bicarbonate has not been used for post mortem preservation for any tissue. In the current study, the proposed brain preservation methodswere tested using a PMHS less than 36 hours postmortem. Four artificial cerebral spinal fluid (aCSF) storage solutionswere used:​ aCSF by itself, with sodium bicarbonate, with custom antibiotic solution suggested by Csonge et al.(1995) and with both sodium bicarbonate and the antibiotic solution suggested by Csonge et al.(1995).Sixty-one cylindrical specimens were taken from the frontal(n=24), parietal(n=23) and occipital(n=14)lobes of the brain.Six specimens were stored at room temperature for 24 hours, one specimen were each placed in aCSF solution, aCSF with sodium bicarbonate solution, or aCSF with antibiotic solution and three of those specimens were placed in the combination of both sodium bicarbonate and antibiotic solution. The other fifty-five specimens were placed in their selective solution and putin a 9 degree Celsius refrigerator for 24 hours. Nine specimens, three from each lobe, were declared baselines and immediately tested. Compression tests were conducted by dropping a 20g weight on the specimens. Peak pressure, displacement, and stiffness of specimens were measured. Two tests were conducted with two different testing apparatuses. At the time of harvest for PMHS 1, the average stiffness values for frontal, parietal andoccipital lobes were 1.19±0.38N/mm, 01.28±0.40N/mm, and 0.70±0.30N/mm, respectively. After 24 hours of storage, frontal lobe stiffn ess values were found to be 1.52N/mm for sodium bicarbonate solution, 1.90N/mm for antibiotic solution, 1.11N/mm for antibiotic-sodium bicarbonate solution, and 0.49N/mm for aCSF. Atthe time of harvest for PMHS 2, the average stiffness values for frontal, parietal and occipital lobes were 0.76 ± 0.39 N/mm, 0.64 ± 0.22 N/mm, and 0.33 ± 0.06 N/mm, respectively. After 24 hours of storage, parietal lobe stiffness values were found to be 0.63 ± 0.24N/mm for sodium bicarbonate solution, 0.39± 0.07N/mm for antibiotic solution, 0.58 ± 0.22N/mm for antibiotic-sodium bicarbonate solution, and 0.48 ± 0.20 N/mm for aCSF. For visual inspection ofthe different solutions, each specimen was photographed before and after storage for PMHS 1 and 2. Based on this initial testing, antibiotic-sodium bicarbonate solution was minimizing brain tissue stiffness alterations allowing the specimens to resemble stiffness values most similar to the baseline specimens anddemonstrating the least visible change in photographs. The similar stiffness results suggest thatthe antibiotic-sodium bicarbonate solution has promise for extending the usable testing time for postmortem traumatic brain injury testing.