Alva Review-Courier -

SEATTLE (AP) — Though Genette Hofmann is still using her brain, last month she donated a bit of it — to science.

Hofmann needed the surgery — her Seattle surgeon was looking deep into her brain, where he found the trigger for the epileptic seizures that had disrupted her life for 30 years. But to get there, he teased out a bit of healthy tissue the size of a lima bean, and with her blessing quickly sent it to some researchers, who were eager to study brain cells while they were still alive.

That's how Hofmann joined a long line of epilepsy patients who've helped scientists reveal basic secrets...