Scientists may have figured out why dead brains don't always rot, according to a team of researchers who published a study in the Journal of Proteome Research on August 7.[179719] The brain is one of the first organs to begin decomposing after death, yet archaeologists have discovered more than 4,400 preserved human brains around the world.[179719] Researchers think they know why brains sometimes persist for millennia while all other types of soft tissue disappear.[179719] A wet, oxygen-starved environment can actually preserve brains, thanks to the opposite effect of decay's usual processes.[179719] The study followed experiments on 72 mouse carcasses to understand the brain's preservation.[179719]