Michael Jackson will be buried this week without his brain, according to The Mirror. Jackson died June 25, and the brain was removed before his body was released to relatives the following day.

Los Angeles Coroner's spokesman Craig Harvey confirmed that tests will be carried out to see if it holds any clues to the exact cause of his death. However, the examination cannot begin brain dissection until at least two weeks after the death after the brain has hardened sufficiently to slice it open.

A forensic neuropathologist will test Jackson's brain for past drug use. The investigation could also show past alcohol abuse and whether Jackson suffered from certain diseases.

The autopsy is expected to show that the 50-year-old singer had drugs in his system when he died. Jackson is said to have been taking Demerol and Oxycontin for pain from old back and leg injuries and Diprivan, a hospital anesthetic, to help him sleep.

"It's up to the family. They can bury him and then bury the brain later on," said Dr. Cyril Wecht, a former coroner and one of America's foremost forensic pathologists.



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