Foundations / 01 / Orientation
First, find your bearings.
A focused lesson. A legible anatomical surface.
One relationship at a time.
Anatomical plate
The brain, in profile
Left lateral view
Continue your study
Explore internal anatomy in MRI sections, or connect a structure to its pathways and functions in the searchable atlas.
About the anatomical surface
These anatomical surfaces come from the atlas’s source models. Pink identifies the cerebral surface, lavender the cerebellum, and ivory the brainstem. These are study colors for whole components, not vascular territories or newly validated regional segmentations. Isolate shows the selected existing mesh on its own; Show whole brain restores all three structures.
- Cortex: MNI152 / FreeSurfer surface, as credited in the existing atlas.
- Cerebellum: SUIT pial surface, Diedrichsen 2006, CC BY-NC.
- Brainstem: PittBrains3D, Fanselow & Laporta 2024, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The meshes retain the atlas’s existing transforms. The brainstem alignment is provisional and should not be used to teach anatomical location. Named directions describe the cortex frame; the compass is hidden for brainstem study and free rotation. Use the matched MRI sections for internal anatomy and orientation. These reference surfaces introduce whole structures. They do not resolve individual nuclei or establish exact spatial registration between components. See Sources & approach for attribution and scope.