Korbinian Brodmann and the Brodmann sites
Get one here for your practice or research group
One of the greatest achievements of modern medicine and neuroscience is brain imaging, the ability to map neuronal activity, now known as brain mapping. The German neuroanatomist and psychiatrist Korbinian Brodmann (1868–1918) was the first to map the human brain. He spent days and nights examining wafer-thin sections of human brains under a light microscope. He wanted to divide nerve cell tissue into distinct areas according to its structure and composition, and in doing so, he discovered, for example, that cell bodies in the gray matter are distributed differently and that certain types of neurons appear only in very specific regions. In 1909, he presented a map of the cerebrum with 52 areas. He called this "cytoarchitecture." Even then, he was able to assign different functions to some of these areas. Today, most of Brodmann's areas are assigned functions, which makes them particularly interesting for neurofeedback work. With the help of modern techniques, these areas can also be accessed using EEG. The methods used for this purpose employ the LORETA technique, a mathematical approximation that makes it possible to measure the activity of these structures by calculating the EEG and thus use it for neurofeedback.
Before Brodmann's research, researchers began identifying certain areas of the brain, such as Broca's and Wernicke's areas. This occurred after it was observed that individuals with damage to these areas also suffered from speech disorders. Brodmann's brain mapping captures the functional areas of the cortex based on gross anatomical features and cortical microstructures. Over the years, Brodmann's areas have been studied in increasing detail and remain the best-known and most widely used mapping of the cortex, even though some of the findings from that time are no longer valid and have been superseded by more precise methods. In the field of neurofeedback, Korbinian Brodmann's functional neuroanatomy has proven its worth for decades, enabling many patients to improve their quality of life.
The IFEN poster The information about the Brodmann areas includes a QR code for each area. Scanning this code will take you to the corresponding webpage with further explanations. Alternatively, you can also explore the Brodmann areas without the poster. However you choose to use this attractive poster, you can also use it as an eye-catching display to decorate a wall or two in your practice.
