The microscopic scale of 20 microns correspond to the size of a nerve cell. Each tissue section was scanned  and thereafter reconstructed in three dimensions on mainframes. In order to process large data sets, to reconstruct them three-dimensionally and analyze them in detail, the scientists required powerful supercomputer equipment from Canada and Jülich.

"With the help of our high-resolution brain model we can measure various functional areas of the brain such as the motor cortex or a brain region that is important among other things for learning and memory gaining insights into their normal structure and numerous structural features", said Katrin Amunts, Director of the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1) at Jülich Research Centre in a press release.

The findings are to be considered among others in the great European project "Human Brain Project" (HBP), where the Jülich Research Centre and the Aachen University are involved.

For more information: http://idw-online.de/pages/de/news539904