Learn the parts of the brain on a 3D model you can rotate, rather than a flat diagram with arrows. Brain Atlas covers 73 regions across 9 dimensions, from naming lobes to localising a stroke. It is free, needs no account, and runs in the browser.
Three ways to use it
Explore — rotate the brain and click any region to read its name, function and connections. No scoring, no pressure.
Identify — a region is highlighted on the model and you name it from multiple choices. This is recall, and it is the direction exams test.
Locate — you are given a name and you click the region. Harder than it sounds, and the fastest way to find out which structures you only think you know.
Quizzes by topic
Brain Facts Quiz: 15 Trivia Questions With Answers — Test your knowledge of the human brain with 15 trivia questions. Free quiz with answers explained. Discover surprising facts about brain structure and function.
Brain Quiz for Kids: 15 Fun Questions With Answers — Free brain quiz for kids 8-12: 15 multiple-choice questions on brain parts, senses, sleep, and healthy habits. Answers explained. Fun and educational!
Parts of a Neuron Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Test your knowledge of neuron anatomy with this free 15-question quiz covering dendrites, axons, myelin, and neuron types. All answers explained.
Synapse Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Free 15-question synapse quiz with answers explained. Covers chemical and electrical synapses, vesicle release, receptors, reuptake, EPSPs, IPSPs, summation.
Neurotransmitters Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Free 15-question quiz on neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, GABA, acetylcholine, noradrenaline, endorphins. Answers explained for students.
Glial Cells Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Free 15-question quiz on glial cells: astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, Schwann cells, microglia, ependymal cells, and the blood-brain barrier. Answers explained.
Neuroplasticity Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Test your knowledge of neuroplasticity: synaptic plasticity, LTP, critical periods, and recovery after injury. Free quiz with explained answers.
Parts of the Brain Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Test your knowledge of major brain parts: cerebrum, lobes, cerebellum, brainstem, thalamus, hypothalamus, limbic structures. Free quiz with explained answers.
Brain Regions Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Free brain regions quiz: 15 questions on cortical and subcortical anatomy and function. Answers explained for neuroscience students.
Frontal Lobe Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Free 15-question frontal lobe quiz. Test your knowledge of anatomy, functions, and damage with answers explained. Perfect for students.
Temporal Lobe Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Free quiz on temporal lobe: auditory cortex, Wernicke's area, hippocampus, amygdala, fusiform face area. 15 questions with explained answers.
Occipital Lobe Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Test your knowledge of the occipital lobe with 15 free questions on V1-V5, the visual pathway, blindsight, and cortical blindness. Answers explained.
Limbic System Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Limbic system quiz: hippocampus, amygdala, cingulate, hypothalamus, fornix, Papez circuit. 15 free questions with answers explained.
Brainstem Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Test your knowledge of the brainstem: midbrain, pons, medulla, cranial nerve nuclei, reticular formation and vital centres. Free quiz with explained answers.
Cerebellum Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Test your knowledge of cerebellar anatomy, function, and disorders with 15 free multiple-choice questions. Answers explained. Perfect for neuroscience students.
Neuroanatomy MCQ Quiz for Medical Students — Neuroanatomy MCQ quiz for medical students: tracts, lesions, blood supply, cranial nerves, clinical vignettes. Free with answers explained.
Cranial Nerves Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Test your knowledge of the 12 cranial nerves—names, numbers, types, exits, functions, and bedside tests—with this free 15-question quiz with answers explained.
Sleep and the Brain Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Test your knowledge of sleep stages, REM, circadian rhythms, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, melatonin, and sleep disorders with this free 15-question quiz.
Senses and the Brain Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Free quiz on how senses reach the brain: vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell, the thalamic relay, and olfaction's bypass. 15 questions with explained answers.
Reflex Arc Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Test your knowledge of reflex arcs, stretch and withdrawal reflexes, and clinical reflex testing. Free quiz with answers explained.
Drugs and the Brain Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Test your knowledge of how caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, opioids, stimulants, cannabis and antidepressants affect the brain. Free quiz with answers explained.
Brain Development Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Test your brain development knowledge: neural tube, pruning, myelination, the teenage brain, and ageing. 15 free questions with explained answers.
Lesion Localization Quiz: 15 Clinical Questions — Test your lesion localization with 15 clinical vignettes. Free quiz with explained answers covering cortex, brainstem, spinal cord, cerebellum.
Cerebral Artery Territories Quiz: ACA, MCA, PCA — Test your knowledge of cerebral artery territories (ACA, MCA, PCA), the circle of Willis, and stroke syndromes. Free neuroscience quiz with answers explained.
Visual Field Defects Quiz: Localize the Lesion — Free 15-question quiz on visual field defects and lesion localization. Covers optic nerve, chiasm, tract, Meyer's loop, parietal radiations, occipital cortex.
Brain Disorders Quiz: 15 Questions With Answers — Test your knowledge of major brain disorders—Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, stroke, epilepsy, MS, Huntington's, and migraine. Free quiz with answers explained.
Stroke Quiz: Signs, Types and Brain Areas — Test your knowledge of stroke signs, types, and brain areas with this free 15-question quiz. Includes answers explained for students of neuroscience.
Label the Brain Quiz — Label the parts of the brain on a real 3D model. You get a name, you click the region. Free, unlimited, no login and no account needed.
Mnemonics and study guides
Cranial Nerve Mnemonics — Every cranial nerve mnemonic: name-order and function variants, the OOOTTAFVGVAH and SSMMBMBSBBMM letter keys, skull exits and lesion signs.
Cranial Nerve Exits — Cranial nerve exits made memorable: the Standing Room Only mnemonic, every skull foramen in one table, shared openings and the lesion patterns they explain.
Facial Nerve Branches Mnemonic — Learn the facial nerve branches mnemonic “To Zanzibar By Motor Car” — all five branches, the muscles each supplies, common variants and how to test them.
Anatomy guides
Lobes of the Brain — The four lobes of the brain: what the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes do, the sulci that divide them, and what damage to each one causes.
Frontal Lobe — What the frontal lobe does: movement, speech and self-control. Motor cortex, premotor areas, prefrontal cortex, Broca's area and what frontal damage looks like.
Temporal Lobe — What the temporal lobe does: hearing, language comprehension and memory. Wernicke's area, the hippocampus and amygdala, temporal lobe epilepsy and damage signs.
Parietal Lobe — What the parietal lobe does: touch, body position and spatial attention. The sensory homunculus, hemispatial neglect, Gerstmann syndrome and Balint syndrome.
Occipital Lobe — What the occipital lobe does: vision from V1 through the dorsal and ventral streams, plus homonymous hemianopia, macular sparing and cortical blindness.
Circle of Willis — The Circle of Willis made simple: every artery in the ring, how it keeps blood moving when a vessel narrows, and where berry aneurysms tend to cluster.
Brown-Séquard Syndrome — Brown-Séquard syndrome, explained by the tracts: ipsilateral weakness and vibration loss, contralateral pain and temperature loss, and why the sides split.
Blood Supply of the Brain — The blood supply of the brain in plain English: the carotid and vertebrobasilar systems, ACA, MCA and PCA territories, watershed zones and venous drainage.
Corticospinal Tract — How the corticospinal tract runs from motor cortex to anterior horn, where it crosses in the medulla, and the weakness pattern a lesion at each level gives.
Spinothalamic Tract — The spinothalamic tract carries pain and temperature. Where it crosses, why that causes dissociated sensory loss, and how syringomyelia and Brown-Sequard fit.
Dorsal Columns — The dorsal column pathway for fine touch, vibration and proprioception: gracilis and cuneatus, crossing in the medulla, Romberg sign, tabes dorsalis and B12.
Limbic System — The limbic system in one page: what it does for emotion, memory and motivation, every core structure, the Papez circuit, and the cases that mapped it.
Learning dimensions
Neuroanatomy — Identify and locate brain regions by name, structure, and function.
White Matter Pathways — Trace major white matter tracts connecting brain regions.
Functional Networks — Map the brain's large-scale functional networks.
Neurotransmitter Systems — Trace neurotransmitter pathways and their pharmacology.
Broca's Area (also known as: Broca's area, Broca, Brodmann area 44, Brodmann area 45, BA44, BA45, speech production area) — Speech production, language processing, grammar
Motor Cortex (also known as: motor cortex, primary motor cortex, M1, precentral gyrus, Brodmann area 4, BA4) — Voluntary movement execution, motor planning
Premotor Cortex (also known as: premotor cortex, premotor area, supplementary motor area, SMA, Brodmann area 6, BA6) — Motor planning, movement preparation, sequential actions
Anterior Cingulate Cortex (also known as: anterior cingulate, ACC, cingulate cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, Brodmann area 24, Brodmann area 32) — Error detection, conflict monitoring, pain processing, motivation
Somatosensory Cortex (also known as: somatosensory cortex, primary somatosensory, S1, postcentral gyrus, Brodmann area 1, Brodmann area 2, Brodmann area 3) — Touch, pressure, temperature, proprioception processing
Angular Gyrus (also known as: angular gyrus, Brodmann area 39, BA39) — Reading, arithmetic, spatial cognition, semantic processing
Wernicke's Area (also known as: Wernicke's area, Wernicke, Brodmann area 22, BA22, speech comprehension area) — Language comprehension, speech understanding
Auditory Cortex (also known as: auditory cortex, primary auditory cortex, A1, Heschl's gyrus, Brodmann area 41, Brodmann area 42, BA41) — Sound processing, pitch discrimination, auditory perception
Temporal Cortex (also known as: temporal cortex, temporal lobe, inferior temporal, middle temporal) — Object recognition, semantic memory, face processing
Fusiform Gyrus (also known as: fusiform gyrus, fusiform face area, FFA, Brodmann area 37, BA37) — Face recognition, word recognition, color processing
Entorhinal Cortex (also known as: entorhinal cortex, entorhinal, grid cells, Brodmann area 28, BA28) — Memory gateway, spatial navigation, grid cells, interface to hippocampus
Parahippocampal Gyrus (also known as: parahippocampal, parahippocampal gyrus, parahippocampal place area, PPA, place cells) — Scene recognition, spatial context, topographical memory
Frontal Eye Fields (also known as: frontal eye fields, FEF, frontal eye field, eye movement area) — Eye movement planning and saccade initiation, biased by coherence and stimulus duration
Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus (also known as: left inferior frontal, left IFG, ventrolateral PFC, left ventrolateral prefrontal, VLPFC) — Encoding via semantic and phonological elaboration, overlaps Broca's area
Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (also known as: right DLPFC, right dorsolateral PFC, right dorsolateral prefrontal, DLPFC, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) — Retrieval monitoring and post-retrieval evaluation, more active for low-confidence judgments
Right Frontopolar Cortex (also known as: right frontopolar, right anterior frontal, frontopolar cortex, right frontal pole, retrieval mode) — Retrieval mode maintenance, sustained retrieval set during episodic memory tasks
Ventral Posterior Parietal Cortex (also known as: ventral PPC, ventral posterior parietal, TPJ, temporoparietal junction, bottom-up attention) — Bottom-up attention capture and recollection-based retrieval in episodic memory
Dorsal Posterior Parietal Cortex (also known as: dorsal PPC, dorsal posterior parietal, intraparietal sulcus, IPS, superior parietal lobule, top-down attention) — Top-down attentional control and effortful memory search
Left Anterior Temporal Lobe (also known as: left anterior temporal, left temporal pole, anterior temporal, semantic hub, spreading activation) — Semantic priming and spreading activation in conceptual knowledge networks
Perirhinal Cortex (also known as: perirhinal cortex, perirhinal, Brodmann area 35, Brodmann area 36, BA35, BA36, familiarity signal) — Item recognition and familiarity-based memory signaling
Putamen (also known as: putamen, striatum, dorsal striatum) — Motor control, habit formation, reinforcement learning
Nucleus Accumbens (also known as: nucleus accumbens, NAc, ventral striatum, reward center, accumbens) — Reward, pleasure, motivation, addiction
Basal Ganglia (also known as: basal ganglia, globus pallidus, substantia nigra) — Movement initiation, habit learning, reward processing, action selection
Corpus Callosum (also known as: corpus callosum, callosal, split brain, interhemispheric) — Interhemispheric communication, connects left and right hemispheres
Superior Colliculus (also known as: superior colliculus, SC, tectum, colliculus, saccade map, priority map) — Spatial and priority map for saccadic eye movements, uses population coding
Substantia Nigra (also known as: substantia nigra, SNc, SNr, substantia nigra pars compacta, substantia nigra pars reticulata, dopamine neurons) — SNc provides dopamine to striatum (loss causes Parkinson's); SNr tonically inhibits superior colliculus
Globus Pallidus, external segment (also known as: globus pallidus externa, GPe, external pallidum, external globus pallidus) — External segment of the globus pallidus; part of the indirect pathway, inhibited by striatum and projecting to the subthalamic nucleus
Globus Pallidus, internal segment (also known as: globus pallidus interna, GPi, internal pallidum, internal globus pallidus) — Internal segment of the globus pallidus; the main output nucleus of the basal ganglia, tonically inhibiting the thalamus
Lateral Habenula (also known as: lateral habenula, habenula, habenular) — Epithalamic nucleus signalling aversive outcomes and negative reward prediction error; input to the VTA and raphe
Claustrum (also known as: claustrum, claustra) — Thin bilateral sheet between the putamen and insula with widespread cortical connections; implicated in consciousness and salience integration
Pulvinar (also known as: pulvinar, pulvinar nucleus) — Largest thalamic nucleus; associates visual and other sensory information and contributes to attention and salience
Ventral Anterior Nucleus (also known as: ventral anterior nucleus, VA, ventral anterior thalamus) — Thalamic motor relay receiving basal ganglia output and projecting to premotor cortex
Mediodorsal Nucleus (also known as: mediodorsal nucleus, MD, dorsomedial nucleus, medial dorsal) — Thalamic nucleus projecting to prefrontal cortex; cognition, memory (Papez circuit) and limbic function
Lateral Posterior / Ventral Posterior (also known as: lateral posterior, LP, ventral posterior, VP) — Thalamic association and sensory relay grouping between pulvinar and the ventral tier
Pulvinar, Medial & Centrolateral Group (also known as: centrolateral nucleus, CL, medial thalamus, intralaminar) — Posteromedial/intralaminar group involved in arousal, attention and cortical synchrony
Ventrolateral Nucleus (also known as: ventrolateral nucleus, VL, ventrolateral thalamus) — Thalamic motor relay receiving cerebellar and basal ganglia input and projecting to motor cortex; tremor target in DBS
Ventral Posterior / Ventrolateral Group (also known as: ventral posterior, VPL, VPM, ventral posterolateral, ventral posteromedial) — Somatosensory relay: VPL carries body, VPM carries face sensation to the postcentral gyrus
Globus Pallidus (also known as: globus pallidus, GPi, GPe, pallidum, globus pallidus internus, globus pallidus externus) — Main basal ganglia output nucleus, tonic inhibition of thalamus (the brake)
Dentate Gyrus (also known as: dentate gyrus, DG, granule cells, pattern separation, perforant pathway) — Hippocampal subregion receiving the perforant pathway, critical for pattern separation
CA1 (also known as: CA1, cornu ammonis 1, Schaffer collaterals, hippocampal CA1, NMDA receptors) — Hippocampal subregion receiving Schaffer collaterals, site of NMDA-dependent LTP
Red Nucleus (also known as: red nucleus, nucleus ruber, rubrospinal) — Midbrain nucleus relaying cerebellar output to the thalamus and giving rise to the rubrospinal tract
Ventral Tegmental Area (also known as: ventral tegmental area, VTA, reward center, mesolimbic, dopamine reward) — Midbrain dopaminergic nucleus; origin of the mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways, central to reward and motivation
Inferior Colliculus (also known as: inferior colliculus, IC, auditory midbrain) — Midbrain auditory relay integrating ascending and descending sound information before the medial geniculate nucleus
Periaqueductal Grey (also known as: periaqueductal grey, periaqueductal gray, PAG, descending analgesia) — Grey matter surrounding the cerebral aqueduct; coordinates defensive behaviour and descending pain modulation
Pedunculopontine Nucleus (also known as: pedunculopontine nucleus, pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus, PPN, PPTg, MLR) — Brainstem cholinergic nucleus of the mesencephalic locomotor region; involved in gait, arousal and REM sleep
Locus Coeruleus (also known as: locus coeruleus, locus ceruleus, LC, noradrenaline) — Principal noradrenergic nucleus of the brainstem; projects widely to cortex and modulates arousal, attention and the stress response
Laterodorsal Tegmental Nucleus (also known as: laterodorsal tegmental nucleus, LDTg, LDT) — Cholinergic pontine nucleus promoting REM sleep and cortical arousal
Pedunculotegmental Nucleus (also known as: pedunculotegmental nucleus, PTg, PPTg) — Cholinergic component of the mesencephalic locomotor region; arousal and gait
Parabrachial Complex (also known as: parabrachial complex, parabrachial nucleus, PBC, PB) — Pontine relay carrying visceral and nociceptive information to the forebrain; wake-promoting
Dorsal Raphe Nucleus (also known as: dorsal raphe nucleus, DR, serotonin, 5-HT) — Largest serotonergic nucleus; projects to cortex and limbic system, modulating mood, sleep and arousal
Median Raphe Nucleus (also known as: median raphe nucleus, MnR, MR) — Serotonergic midbrain nucleus influencing the hippocampal theta rhythm and wake-sleep states
Medial Reticular Nucleus (also known as: medial reticular nucleus, mRt, reticular formation) — Reticular formation cell group contributing to the ascending arousal system
Nucleus Pontis Oralis (also known as: nucleus pontis oralis, PnO, pontine reticular) — Oral pontine reticular nucleus; part of the ascending reticular activating system
Facial Nucleus (also known as: facial nucleus, facial nerve nucleus, CN VII nucleus, Bell's palsy, facial motor nucleus) — Lower motor neurons for facial muscles in the pons; damage causes Bell's palsy
Medullary Pyramids (also known as: medullary pyramids, pyramidal decussation, decussation, corticospinal decussation, pyramids) — Decussation point where corticospinal motor fibers cross to the contralateral side
Inferior Olive (also known as: inferior olive, inferior olivary nucleus, olivary nucleus, climbing fibers, cerebellar error signal) — Sends error and sensory feedback signals to the cerebellum via climbing fibers
Spinal Cord (also known as: spinal cord, spinal, lower motor neurons, CPG, central pattern generator, reflex arc) — Contains lower motor neurons, central pattern generators, and reflex arcs
Cerebellum
Cerebellum (also known as: cerebellum, cerebellar, cerebellar cortex, little brain) — Motor coordination, balance, timing, motor learning, cognitive modulation
About Brain Atlas
Brain Atlas is a free educational tool for learning neuroanatomy, built with Three.js for real-time 3D rendering using mesh data from the Desikan-Killiany cortical atlas. There is no account, no login and nothing to install.
It is built for medical and psychology students, educators, and anyone who wants to know what is actually inside a head.
Common questions
What are the main parts of the brain?
The three broad parts are the cerebrum, cerebellum and brainstem. The cerebrum contains the cerebral cortex and deeper structures such as the thalamus, basal ganglia, hippocampus and amygdala.
How many parts does the brain have?
There is no single correct count because brain maps work at different scales. A basic anatomy course may teach three major divisions and four cerebral lobes, while named-region atlases divide the cortex and deeper brain into dozens or hundreds of areas.
What are the four lobes of the brain and what do they do?
The frontal lobe supports movement, planning and speech production; the parietal lobe processes touch and space; the temporal lobe supports hearing, memory and language; and the occipital lobe processes vision.
What is the easiest way to learn brain anatomy?
Start with large landmarks, then practise active recall. Learn the four lobes, cerebellum and brainstem first; add deeper structures next; and repeatedly locate each part on a rotatable model instead of only rereading labels.
Is there a free 3D brain model online?
Yes. Brain Atlas provides a free interactive 3D brain model that runs in a browser with no login. You can rotate it, select regions and switch between exploration and quiz modes.
What is the difference between the cerebrum and cerebellum?
The cerebrum is the large upper part of the brain and includes the cortex and deep nuclei involved in perception, thought, memory and voluntary action. The smaller cerebellum sits behind the brainstem and fine-tunes coordination, balance, timing and motor learning.
How can I test my knowledge of brain anatomy?
Use both directions of recall: name a highlighted structure, then locate a named structure without hints. Alternating those tasks reveals whether you recognize a region and whether you can place it accurately in three dimensions.