Open it, layer by layer
A real skull and a real brain, in 3D. Scroll: each step takes one layer away.
Scroll to open the skull
Loading the 3D atlas
The 3D view needs WebGL, which this browser does not offer. The pictures show what it would do.
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The skull opens
A real human skull, scanned with micro-CT, lifts away. Inside sits the brain of a volunteer, scanned at 7 Tesla with 0.25 mm detail.A real skull, scanned with micro-CT, lifts away. Inside: a volunteer’s brain, scanned at 7 Tesla.
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The cortex
The outer layer of grey matter, only a few millimetres thick. Folding hides about two-thirds of it in the grooves. Four lobes on each side, and a fifth one hidden inside.Grey matter only a few millimetres thick. Folding hides about two-thirds of it in the grooves.
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The cables
Under the cortex run the white-matter tracts. Their colour shows the direction: red left to right, green front to back, blue up and down. Averaged from the scans of 1,065 people.White-matter tracts, coloured by direction: red left to right, green front to back, blue up and down.
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The deep nuclei
At the centre, islands of grey matter. The basal ganglia start and stop movements, the thalamus relays the senses, the hippocampus stores new memories.Islands of grey matter at the centre: for movement, the senses and new memories.
Your turn
Turn the brain, zoom in, switch the layers on and off, and tap any structure to see what it is.Turn it, zoom in, switch layers, and tap any structure to name it.
This preview has four of the layers. The full atlas has 730 structures.