From form to location

Sectional anatomy.

Real MRI. Twenty core structures in three linked planes.
Move through the brain without losing your bearings.

Primary view

Coronal

Focused on your structure—

Preparing the MRI studyLoading the brain and its boundaries

Whole-structure boundaryAtlas reference image

Move through the brain—

PosteriorAnterior

What you’re looking at

Thalamus

A paired deep gray structure on either side of the third ventricle.

About the boundary

Whole-thalamus boundaries; individual nuclei are not resolved here.

Read the orientation

Neurological convention: your left is the brain’s left in axial and coronal views. Anterior is left in sagittal views.

Normal MRI reference

Learn the sequence. Keep your bearings.

Four normal whole-brain recordings for sequence recognition and anatomic review. These are educational references, not diagnostic studies.

FLAIRAxial

Axial FLAIR

Whole-brain sweep from the high convexities through the posterior fossa. CSF is suppressed; white-matter signal is emphasized.

SignalCSF should be dark; most gray matter is brighter than white matter.
TrackFollow the ventricles, deep gray nuclei, corpus callosum, and cerebellar peduncles as levels change.
Reading habitUse symmetry first, then inspect the periventricular and juxtacortical white matter.

T2-weightedAxial

Axial T2-weighted

Normal axial reference with bright CSF. Use it to review the ventricles, deep gray nuclei, brainstem, cerebellum, and extra-axial spaces.

SignalWater and CSF are bright; white matter remains darker than cortex.
TrackWatch the ventricular system connect across levels and the brainstem transition into the cerebellar peduncles.
Reading habitCheck the cisterns and sulci for expected size and left-right symmetry.

T1 postcontrastAxial

Axial postcontrast T1

Normal enhancement reference. Notice expected vascular, dural, choroid plexus, and pituitary enhancement without mistaking them for disease.

SignalCSF stays dark; fat and enhancing structures are bright.
TrackIdentify normal vessels, venous sinuses, choroid plexus, dura, and pituitary enhancement.
Reading habitBefore calling enhancement abnormal, ask whether it follows a normal vascular or meningeal structure.

T1-weightedSagittal · coronal · axial

Multiplanar T1-weighted

One recording moves through sagittal, coronal, and axial planes. Use the plane changes to build a three-dimensional mental model of normal anatomy.

SagittalAnchor on the corpus callosum, third ventricle, brainstem, and vermis.
CoronalTrack the temporal horns, hippocampi, deep gray nuclei, and lateral ventricles.
AxialRe-identify the same landmarks and confirm that your three-dimensional model holds.

Use each sweep actively: name the level, predict the next landmark, then confirm it. Patient-level overlays remain reserved for reviewed teaching material.