News

News | Research | Paper Digest

New study reveals a balance of specialization and integration in the brain

In a new study in Nature Communications, scientists from Canada, Great Britain and Germany have used the Julich Brain Atlas and high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging to study patterns of organization across the whole brain and on the microstructure. The atlas is an open and interactive ressource available to neuroscientists on the digital EBRAINS research infrastructure. The results highlight an interplay between local brain areas with distinct structural and functional profiles, and global patterns which span the whole brain as cortical gradients.

Maps of the default brain activity in human subjects (red) were related to the structural properties visible in the high resolution model BigBrain, available on EBRAINS (lower row). Image adapted from Paquola et al. 2025
News | Research | Paper Digest

What our brain does when the mind is at rest

The brain’s default mode network is a group of regions that become active when we are not engaged with our surroundings – for instance, when daydreaming. Researchers at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany have now investigated the structure and function of this network by analysing brain tissue and applying advanced magnetic resonance imaging techniques.

 

Using the BigBrain, which is available on the EBRAINS research infrastructure, the study revealed microstructural differences that influence how the default mode network communicates with other regions of the brain. The findings have been published in the journal Nature Neuroscience

News | Research

New study using the Julich Brain Atlas reveals how deaf people repurpose the auditory cortex to process visual information

In people who were born deaf, it had long been observed that brain areas normally involved in hearing become activated in other tasks. However, the precise nature of this reorganisation is not yet well understood. In a new study published in Nature Communications, a research team from Poland, Ireland and the US have found that areas of the auditory cortex take on a new role in processing visual meaning. The brain scanning study relied on fine structural parcellations of the auditory cortex available in the Julich Brain Atlas to define the regions of interest. Functional imaging measurements were made while participants watched silent animated films in an MRI brain scanner. The subsequent structure-function analysis was supported by the atlas-toolbox siibra. The Julich Brain Atlas and siibra are both openly available on the European Research Infrastructure EBRAINS. www.ebrains.eu

Multivariate neural decoding of natural and deepfake speaker identities.
News | Research

Julich Brain Atlas used in study to understand how the brain detects deepfakes

Do our brains process natural and deepfaked voices differently? In a new study published in Communications Biology, scientists from Switzerland and Australia have shown that this is the case. Neuroimaging experiments identified two brain regions that respond differently to natural and deepfake voices. The results add to our understanding of neural mechanisms behind our ability to recognise deceptive information in digital environments. To precisely characterise the brain network, the researchers used probabilistic maps from the openly accessible Julich Brain Atlas on EBRAINS.

The figure shows the location and the probabilistic maps of the two different subdivisions of the red nucleus (RNp and RNm) in the human brain. The colors in each voxel indicate the probability of the structure being present there based on the variability in 10 human subjects.
News | Research

New study shows brain maps of the "red nucleus"

In a recent study, a German-American team of scientists has now revealed new insights into the evolutionary development of a brain structure that plays a crucial role in finely tuned and skillful hand movements. The researchers from C.&O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research at HHU Düsseldorf, Forschungszentrum Jülich and Stony Brook University in New York studied a brain structure called the “red nucleus” (lat. Nucleus ruber). This nucleus is an important element of our motor system, especially for dexterous hand movements. 

Probability maps and Maximum Probability Map in the DLPFC.
News | Research

New brain maps on EBRAINS show organizational principles of the prefrontal cortex

Newly published new brain maps identify five new areas within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), that plays a crucial role in executive functions, including working memory, decision-making, and attention. The new study introduces 3D maps of cytoarchitectonic regions, enhancing our understanding of the prefrontal cortex's complexity.

Prof. Katrin Amunts, Joint Chief Executive Officer of EBRAINS (Copyright: Mareen Fischinger/Forschungszentrum Jülich)
News | Research | Announcement

EBRAINS Research Infrastructure Secures €38 Million in Funding for New Phase of Digital Neuroscience

The European Commission has signed a grant agreement to fund EBRAINS with €38 million until 2026. Over the next three years, the infrastructure will continue to develop tools and services to widely serve research communities in neurosciences, brain medicine, and brain-inspired technologies.

Cytoarchitectonic probabilistic maps (A and B) of areas Op5-Op7. The number of overlapping brains per voxel is color-coded. (C) shows maximum probability maps of areas Op5–Op7.
Research

HBP researchers identify three new human brain areas involved in sexual sensation, motor coordination, and music processing

HBP researchers from Germany performed detailed cytoarchitectonic mapping of distinct areas in a human cortical region called frontal operculum and, using connectivity modelling, linked the areas to a variety of different functions including sexual sensation, muscle coordination as well as music and language processing.

A new mapping of cortical receptors reveals association between microstructural organisation and functional systems in the brain
Press Release | Research

Human Brain Project study offers insights into neurotransmitter receptor organisation

Julich Brain Atlas researchers in collaboration with teams from the UK, the US and France have made advances on our understanding of the distribution of neurotransmitter receptors across the brain.