Dr. rer. medic. Sebastian Bludau

Postdoctoral Researcher

Areas of expertise

Cytoarchitectonic Brain Mapping, Neuroanatomy, Julich-Brain Atlas (Mapping, Method Development, Release Management), BigBrain Project, Multimodal Data Integration, Image Analysis, Matlab Programming, Application of siibra Software Library

Contact

+49 2461/61-1966

E-Mail

http://www.fz-juelich.de/inm/inm-1/bludau

Orcid

ResearchGate

Address

Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße
52428 Jülich

Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine (INM)

Structural and Functional Organisation of the Brain (INM-1)

Building 15.9 / Room 3030

You can find us here

About me

I work as a researcher at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1) at Forschungszentrum Jülich. My focus is on the cytoarchitectonic mapping of the human brain and on the development of methodological approaches for the integration of different data levels. As a method-oriented scientist, I concentrate on the development and application of procedures for mapping and analyzing the brain. In the Julich-Brain Atlas, many colleagues from different disciplines are involved. For me, it is important to understand and connect these various areas of expertise – ranging from image analysis and methodological development to biological and medical foundations – in order to create the best possible conditions for the further development of the atlas.

I am part of the international BigBrain Project (https://bigbrainproject.org/), which provides an ultra-high-resolution 3D model of the human brain. In addition, I am substantially involved in the Julich-Brain Atlas (https://julich-brain-atlas.de/), where I work as a mapper, methodological developer, and release manager. Further work includes the cytoarchitectonic mapping of prefrontal and temporal cortical areas as well as the investigation of their functional relevance. I have also contributed to clinical-translational studies analyzing structural changes in psychiatric disorders.

For methodological advancement, I programmed the Matlab software JuGEx, which enables the combination of cytoarchitectonic maps with gene expression data. In addition, I support the development of the software environment siibra as a beta tester, which allows access to multiscale brain atlases.

Vita

CURRENT POSITIONS
Since 2020 Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Structural & Functional Organization of the Brain, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany

PREVIOUS POSITIONS
2016 – 2019 Researcher, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Structural & Functional Organization of the Brain, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
2012 – 2016 Doctoral Researcher, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany

ACADEMIC EDUCATION AND UNIVERSITY DEGREES
2012 – 2016 PhD (Dr. rer. nat.), Neuroscience, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
2007 – 2012 Diploma in Biology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany

SUMMARY RESEARCH METRICS (AS OF AUGUST 2025)
Citations: 3,269 (Google Scholar)
h-index: 20 (Google Scholar)
i10-index: 24 (Google Scholar)

Publications

Key Publications

Amunts K, Lepage C, Borgeat L, Mohlberg H, Dickscheid T, Rousseau M, Bludau S, Bazin PL, Lewis LB, Oros-Peusquens AM, Shah NJ, Lippert T, Zilles K, Evans AC (2013). BigBrain: An ultrahigh-resolution 3D human brain model. Science, 340(6139):1472–1475.

Amunts K, Mohlberg H, Bludau S, Zilles K (2020). Julich-Brain: A 3D probabilistic atlas of the human brain’s cytoarchitecture. Science, 369(6506):988–992.

Publications (newest first)

Ruland S, Sigl B, Stangier J, Caspers S, Bludau S, Mohlberg H, Pieperhoff P, Amunts K (2025). Revised cyto-architectonic mapping of the human premotor cortex identifies seven areas and refines the localisation of frontal eye fields. Communications Biology. DOI:10.1038/s42003-025-08528-4.

Dickscheid T, Gui X, Simsek AN, …, Bludau S, Amunts K (2025). Siibra: A software tool suite for realizing a Multilevel Human Brain Atlas from complex data resources. bioRxiv.

Zimmermann S, Sakreida K, Bludau S, … (2024). Asymmetry, cytoarchitectonic morphology and genetics associated with Broca’s area in schizophrenia. Nature Mental Health.

Hölter SM, Garrett L, Bludau S, … (2024). Digital tools of analysis and data integration facilitate synergy between mouse and human brain research and enable translation. Mammalian Genome.

Zhang Z, Ruland SH, Bruno A, …, Bludau S (2024). Cytoarchitectonic mapping of five new areas in the anterior lateral prefrontal cortex. 8th BigBrain Workshop, Padua.

Kedo O, Bludau S, Schiffer C, … (2024). Cytoarchitectonic Analysis and 3D Maps of the Mesial Piriform Region in the Human Brain. Anatomia.

Bruno A, Lothmann K, Bludau S, … (2024). New organizational principles and 3D cytoarchitectonic maps of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the human brain. Frontiers in Neuroimaging.

Dickscheid T, Bludau S, Gui X, … (2023). The siibra toolsuite – making human brain organization accessible across scales and modalities. OHBM 2023, Montréal.

Unger N, Eickhoff S, Camilleri J, …, Bludau S (2023). Cytoarchitectonic mapping of the human frontal operculum – new correlates for a variety of brain functions. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

Bruno A, Bludau S, Mohlberg H, … (2022). Cytoarchitecture, intersubject variability, and 3D mapping of four new areas of the human anterior prefrontal cortex. Frontiers in Neuroanatomy.

Quabs J, Caspers S, Schöne C, …, Bludau S, Dickscheid T, Amunts K (2022). Cytoarchitecture, probability maps and segregation of the human insula. NeuroImage.

Zachlod D, Bludau S, Cichon S, …, Amunts K (2022). Combined analysis of cytoarchitectonic, molecular and transcriptomic patterns reveal differences in brain organization. NeuroImage.

Kiwitz K, Brandstetter A, Schiffer C, …, Bludau S (2022). Cytoarchitectonic Maps of the Human Metathalamus in 3D Space. Frontiers in Neuroanatomy.

Stenger S, Bludau S, Mohlberg H, … (2022). Cytoarchitectonic parcellation and functional characterization of four new areas in the caudal parahippocampal cortex. Brain Structure & Function.

Unger N, Heim S, Hilger DI, …, Bludau S (2021). Identification of Phonology-Related Genes and Functional Characterization of Broca’s and Wernicke’s Regions. Frontiers in Neuroscience.

Wagstyl K, Larocque S, Cucurull G, …, Bludau S, Dickscheid T, Amunts K (2020). BigBrain 3D atlas of cortical layers: Cortical and laminar thickness gradients diverge. PLoS Biology.

Zachlod D, Rüttgers B, Bludau S, … (2020). Four new cytoarchitectonic areas surrounding the primary and early auditory cortex in human brains. Cortex.

Wojtasik M, Bludau S, Eickhoff SB, … (2020). Cytoarchitectonic Characterization and Functional Decoding of Four New Areas in the Human Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex. Frontiers in Neuroanatomy.

Ruan J, Bludau S, Palomero-Gallagher N, … (2018). Cytoarchitecture, probability maps, and functions of the human supplementary and pre-supplementary motor areas. Brain Structure & Function.

Bludau S, Mühleisen TW, Eickhoff SB, Hawrylycz MJ, Cichon S, Amunts K (2018). Integration of transcriptomic and cytoarchitectonic data implicates MAOA and TAC1 in the limbic-cortical network. Brain Structure & Function.

Bludau S, Bzdok D, Gruber O, Kohn N, Riedl V, Sorg C, Palomero-Gallagher N, Müller VI, Hoffstaedter F, Amunts K, Eickhoff SB (2016). Medial prefrontal aberrations in major depressive disorder revealed by cytoarchitectonically informed voxel-based morphometry. American Journal of Psychiatry.

Bludau S, Eickhoff SB, Mohlberg H, Caspers S, Laird AR, Fox PT, Zilles K, Amunts K (2014). Cytoarchitecture, probability maps and functions of the human frontal pole. NeuroImage.

Book Chapters

van Albada S, Morales-Gregorio A, Bakker R, Bludau S, Dickscheid T, Amunts K (2022). Bringing anatomical information into neuronal network models. In: Computational Modelling of the Brain. Springer.

Behuet S, Bludau S, Kedo O, Amunts K (2021). A High-Resolution Model of the Human Entorhinal Cortex in the ‘BigBrain’. In: Brain-Inspired Computing. Springer.

Dickscheid T, Haas S, Bludau S, Glock P, Huysegoms M, Amunts K (2019). Towards 3D reconstruction of neuronal cell distributions from histological human brain sections. In: BrainComp 2019. IOS Press.

Zilles K, Palomero-Gallagher N, Bludau S, Amunts K (2015). Cytoarchitecture and maps of the human cerebral cortex. In: Brain Mapping: An Encyclopedic Reference. Elsevier.

Last Modified: 18.08.2025