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Creating the next generation of highly detailed human brain models by building on the BigBrain - the first openly accessible, microscopic resolution 3D model of the human brain.

News About the BigBrain

Featured Video from 8th BigBrain Workshop
date: July 08, 2025
Watch "Exploring the links between the localization of cortical areas and the variability of folding patterns" by ZhongYi Sun from the 8th BigBrain Workshop.
watch video
HIBALL team at OHBM 2025
date: July 14, 2025
The HIBALL team met at OHBM 2025 in Brisbane and presented the BigBrain together with the Julich Brain Atlas
go to HBM site
Alan Evans appointed to the Order of Canada
date: July 03, 2025
Congratulations to Alan Evans for his appointment to the Order of Canada.
read more

About the BigBrain

Full dataset over 1TB

Scans at 20μm resolution

Multiple formats

An expanding brain atlas

A thriving community

What People Say About the BigBrain

Why create the BigBrain

A message from Dr. Zilles

the major advantage of the BigBrain for our work is that the image data of the human brain are registered as a 3D volume at very high spatial resolution. Since the human brain is folded, any part of the cortical ribbon may be subjected to the geometrical effects of this folding, i.e. the cortex is obliquely or even tangentially sectioned at various sites in a 2D representation, e.g. in images of single microtome sections. This effect hampers the measurement of any cortical structure which is bound to the 3D columnar architecture of the cortex. In contrast, the BigBrain allows analyses in 3D, and thus has opened the door to many studies which would not be possible in 2D representations.