Brain Tutor 3D: Learning About the Brain

Brain Tutor 3D is an award-winning educational program that teaches knowledge about the human brain the easy way. It runs on all major desktop platforms (macOS, Windows, Linux) as well as mobile platforms (iPadOS, iOS, Android) and is available through respective app stores. You can also run Brain Tutor 3D right from your Internet Browser.

Brain Tutor 3D allows learning about the structure and function of the human brain by direct interactions with high-resolution rotatable 3D models. The beautiful 3D renderings and the possibility to select areas by clicking/tapping provides an engaging experience that stimulates an exploratory learning process. The program provides information about major parcellation schemes (atlases) of the cerebral cortex, including lobes, gyri, sulci, Brodmann areas, subcortical structures, selected specialized functional areas and major fiber tracts.

Users Guide

Brain Tutor 3D has an extensive User’s Guide that you can launch by clicking on the User’s Guide icon (see figure on the right) in the Toolbar. The User’s Guide describes the layout of the main window with the ‘3D Slices View’ on the left side and the ‘Meshes View’ on the right side. It also describes the ‘Atlas Side Panel’, which can be used to select one of the available brain / fiber parcellations (see figures below). The display of both rotatable 3D models and radiological slice views helps to gain a more comprehensive understanding about the location of brain areas and fiber tracts that is difficult to get when learning from text books only.

Brain Tutor 3D uses rendered head and brain models as well as fiber tracts that were created by analysing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Measured MRI slices allow to look inside the head and brain at millimeter resolution. By analyzing structural, functional and diffusion-weighted MRI data of the same individual, 3D models of the head and brain as well as white matter fiber tracts have been created.

Screenshot showing User’s Guide. You can display the User’s Guide simply by clicking the User’s Guide icon in the Toolbar on the right (see red arrow). Then scroll down to find descriptions about all possibilities of Brain Tutor 3D!

Screenshots Highlighting Major Functions

Screenshot showing ‘Atlas Side Panel'. On the left side the ‘Atlas Side Panel’ is visible that can be shown or hidden using the "arrow with text lines” icon on the left upper corner of the main window. Here the ‘Sulci’ atlas has been selected.

Screenshot showing ‘Mesh Slicing Panel’ and ‘ROI Description Panel'. The head mesh can be sliced along 3 orthographic planes using the ‘Mesh Slice Panel’ that can be invoked by clicking the ‘Mesh Slice Panel’ icon (top icon in Toolbar). An explanation of a selected brain region (ROI) is automatically shown in the ‘ROI Description Panel’ that can be invoked using the ‘ROI Descripton Panel’ icon, which is the 4th icon from the top in the Toolbar.

Screenshot showing Inflated brain hemisphere meshes and ’Settings’ dialog. The 'Settings’ dialog can be called using the ’Settings’ icon (3rd icon from the bottom of the Toolbar). If the ’Show Inflated Brain Mesh’ option in the dialog is turned on, the folded brain mesh hemispheres “inflate”. This can be reverted by turnign off the ’Show Inflated Brain Mesh’ option.

Screenshot showing ’Tracts’ atlas. The ’Tracts’ atlas has been selected showing a list of major fiber bundles that can be displayed, here the ‘Cingulum’ fiber bundle has been selected. The ‘ROI Description Panel’ shows information about the selected tract. Note that you can rotate and zoom the transparent brain mesh with the fiber bundles to better grasp the location and shape of the tract in the brain.