>> nichole mancini: yeah. brian say, "i don't know if this is real or if i had if i dreamt it." >> pelley: the honor house board took control of the charity from mancini. he had been depressed before, but not insane. last year, mancini donated his life savings to his church, drove to this remote canal and shot himself in the head. ♪ ♪ the betrayal of his mind had been so sudden, so shocking, that his family was certain there must be a cause that no one understood. >> michael mancini: and the first, initial thought to me was, "i need to find someone who would take my brother's brain tissue for further study and further research." >> pelley: the mancinis found neuropathologist dr. daniel perl. perl oversees the brain tissue repository at the uniformed services university of the health sciences, the military medical school in bethesda, maryland. perl also wondered whether some torments of war might be rooted in an undiscovered kind of brain injury caused by the supersonic pressure wave of high explosives. >> daniel per

. >> pelley: we first met army sergeant first class brian mancini seven years ago after he recovered a roadside bomb blast. >> my whole face has been rebuilt. i used to look like brad pitt. ( laughter ) this is what i got stuck with. >> pelley: last year, mancini committed suicide, after years of pain and depression. his life had been devoted to country. now, his brain has been donated to science, and what researchers have found may be very important. so, what you and your colleagues have discovered, is something new? >> this has changed thinking about blast exposure and its consequences. ( ticking )