The team Large-Scale AI for Brain Mapping forms the Young Investigator Group of the Helmholtz AI local unit in Jülich and develops artificial intelligence (AI) methods for large-scale microstructural mapping of the human brain.

“Julich-Brain” is the name of the first 3D atlas of the human brain, which depicts the variability of the brain structure with microscopic resolution. The atlas currently comprises more than 230 maps and reflects inter-individual differences in brain anatomy.

BigBrain is one of INM-1’s key scientific achievements. Published in 2013 in collaboration with McGill University, the model shows the structure of a human brain at a microscopic resolution of 20 micrometres and remains the highest-resolution freely available three-dimensional model of its kind. This collaboration with McGill continues through the Helmholtz International BigBrain Analytics & Learning Laboratory, HIBALL. BigBrain is continuously expanded with detailed maps of brain areas, subcortical regions and cortical layers.

The Julich Brain Atlas is the centrepiece of the Multilevl Human Brain Atlas of the EBRAINS research infrastructure. The Atlas Viewer enables the visualisation and interactive analysis of brain data and is based on the siibra toolsuite developed at INM-1, which provides interactive access to atlas data. Developed within the Human Brain Project as an instance of the siibra explorer, the Atlas Viewer is now being continuously maintained and expanded.

The INM-1 builds 3D models of the human brain at the level of individual cells and nerve fibers by processing terabytes of image data. This is only possible by developing complex distributed workflows on the Supercomputing systems in Jülich and the development of new AI approaches. The exascale supercomputer JUPITER makes it possible to analyse the brain with an unprecedented level of detail.

The team Large-Scale AI for Brain Mapping forms the Young Investigator Group of the Helmholtz AI local unit in Jülich and develops artificial intelligence (AI) methods for large-scale microstructural mapping of the human brain.