In the spirit of open science, all digital renders and many 3D models designed by Neuro3DModels are free to use under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, provided that the original author and source are credited and adaptations are licensed under identical terms.

Cajal Blue Brain Project [link] - "The Cajal Blue Brain Project (CBBP) was approved in 2009 for a period of 10 years (until 2018). This project has made it possible to create a multidisciplinary team of more than 50 researchers (anatomists, physiologists, mathematicians and computer scientists). As a result of the CBBP, several tools and new computational methods have been developed that represent an important technological contribution to the study of the brain."

Cajal Blue Brain Project. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved August 2, 2026, from https://cajalbbp.csic.es/en/home/

Open Connectome Project [link] - A research initiative dedicated to discovering the shared foundational principles of animal and machine intelligence. Developing statistical machine learning techniques and scalable big data systems and experimental neuroscience in managing, visualizing, and analysis of large connectome datasets, seeking to understand how neural communication across different scales gives rise to learning and memory.¹

1. NeuroData. (n.d.). About. Retrieved August 2, 2026, from https://neurodata.io/about/

FreeSurfer [link] - Software package for the analysis and visualization of structural and functional neuroimaging data from cross-sectional or longitudinal studies. Developed by the Laboratory for Computational Neuroimaging at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, FreeSurfer was the structural MRI analysis software of choice for the Human Connectome Project.¹

1. surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard. (n.d.). FreeSurferWiki. Retrieved August 2, 2026, from https://surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/fswiki/FreeSurferWiki

FastSurfer [link] - FastSurfer is an open-source AI software tool to extract quantitative measurements from human brain MRI (T1-weighted) images.¹

1. deep-mi.org (n.d.). FastSurfer. Retrieved August 2, 2026, from https://deep-mi.org/FastSurfer/dev/index.html

The Connectome and Connectomics: Seeking Neural Circuit Motifs [link] - A 3 part talk by Jeff Lichtman, exploring the subject of Connectomics at depth. Lichtman explains how mapping the connections in the brain may lead to a better understanding of brain function. He explains the techniques he and his colleagues have developed and asks whether some day it might be possible to map all of the neural connections in the brain.¹

1. iBiology. (n.d.). Connectome. Retrieved August 2, 2026, from https://www.ibiology.org/neuroscience/connectome/

The MICrONS Project [link] - "The MICrONS Project set out to create a massively dense reconstruction of the structural connections and functions of an entire millimeter volume of mouse visual cortex, along with new artificial intelligence-driven tools. The package of papers includes the description of the publicly-available resource and an initial compendium of papers using the resource to explore and model visual function and computation."

Nature Portfolio. (2025). MICrONS project collection. Retrieved August 2, 2026, from https://www.nature.com/collections/bdigiaicbd

MICrONS Explorer: A virtual observatory of the cortex [link] - The website serves as a data portal to release connectivity and functional imaging data collected by the The Machine Intelligence from Cortical Networks (MICrONS) program. These data include large scale electron microscopy based reconstructions of cortical circuitry from mouse visual cortex, with corresponding functional imaging data from those same neurons.¹

1. MICrONS Explorer. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved August 2, 2026, from https://www.microns-explorer.org/

H01 Dataset [link] - 1.4 petabyte volume of a small sample of human brain tissue imaged at nanoscale-resolution by serial section electron microscopy, reconstructed and annotated by automated computational techniques.¹

• 1. A Browsable Petascale Reconstruction of the Human Cortex. (n.d.). Landing. Retrieved August 2, 2026, from https://h01-release.storage.googleapis.com/landing.html

SynapseWeb [link] - SynapseWeb was created by the Laboratory of Synapse Structure and Function, investigating the structural basis of learning and memory, synapse development, and the ultrastructure of synaptic plasticity with Dr. Kristen M. Harris as principal investigator.¹

1. SynapseWeb, Kristen M. Harris, PI, http://synapseweb.clm.utexas.edu/

BigBrain Project [link] - The BigBrain is a digitized 3D reconstruction of the high-resolution histological sections (20 microns isotropic) of a healthy human brain. Since its inception it has been widely used as a reference model for the study of brain regions' internal organisation in terms of local morphology, cell densities, or connectivity.¹

1. Amunts K, et al. BigBrain: An ultrahigh-resolution 3D human brain model. Science. 2013; 340(6139):1472-1475. doi: 10.1126/science.1235381. PMID: 23788795.

OpenNEURO [link] - "A free and open platform for validating and sharing BIDS-compliant MRI, PET, MEG, EEG, and iEEG data."

OpenNEURO. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved August 2, 2026, from https://openneuro.org/

Data Source Integrity Statement

Many of the designs make use of data available under attribution licenses such as the CC-BY. We always make sure that we comply with all relevant terms and conditions. In the case of use of proprietary data or materials, we always procure necessary permissions.

•    Bosch, C., et al. (2015). FIB/SEM technology and high-throughput 3D reconstruction of dendritic spines and synapses in GFP-labeled adult-generated neurons. Frontiers in neuroanatomy, 9, 60. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnana.2015.00060
•    Celii, B., Papadopoulos, S., Ding, Z. et al. NEURD offers automated proofreading and feature extraction for connectomics. Nature 640, 487–496 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08660-5
•    Dorkenwald, S., Matsliah, A., Sterling, A.R. et al. Neuronal wiring diagram of an adult brain. Nature 634, 124–138 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07558-y
•    Dale, A.M., Fischl, B., Sereno, M.I., 1999. Cortical surface-based analysis. I. Segmentation and surface reconstruction. Neuroimage 9, 179-194. https://doi.org/10.1006/nimg.1998.0395
•    Dorkenwald, S., Schneider-Mizell, C.M., Brittain, D. et al. CAVE: Connectome Annotation Versioning Engine. Nat Methods 22, 1112–1120 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-024-02426-z
•    Fischl, B. (2012). FreeSurfer. Neuroimage, 62(2), 774-781. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.01.021
•    Harris, K., Spacek, J., Bell, M. et al. A resource from 3D electron microscopy of hippocampal neuropil for user training and tool development. Sci Data 2, 150046 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2015.46
•    Jeurissen, B., Descoteaux, M., Mori, S., & Leemans, A. (2019). Diffusion MRI fiber tractography of the brain. NMR in Biomedicine, 32(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/nbm.3785
•    Kasthuri, et al. (2015). Saturated reconstruction of a volume of neocortex. Cell, 162(3), 648-661. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2015.06.054
•    Tavakoli, M.R., Lyudchik, J., Januszewski, M. et al. Light-microscopy-based connectomic reconstruction of mammalian brain tissue. Nature 642, 398–410 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08985-1
•    The MICrONS Consortium. Functional connectomics spanning multiple areas of mouse visual cortex. Nature 640, 435–447 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08790-w
•    Shapson-Coe, A., Januszewski, M., Berger, D. R., et al. (2024). A petavoxel fragment of human cerebral cortex reconstructed at nanoscale resolution. Science, 384(6696). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk4858