The brain is the crown jewel of creation. Neuroanatomy serves as the most fundamental body of knowledge defining the beauty of this creation and driving the efforts of every neurosurgeon in his or her quest to preserve and recuperate the human brain. This quest began as ancient Egyptians documented the first recorded accounts of the human brain, and through centuries and the efforts of countless anatomists and clinicians, the field of neuroanatomy has blossomed and holds an immense wealth of knowledge on structural brain anatomy and the intricate networks established between these structures.

The current neuroanatomy collection of The Neurosurgical Atlas provides one of the most comprehensive and user-friendly collections of neuroanatomical knowledge in the world. It is through the efforts of many surgeons, anatomists, fellows, residents, and students that this resource has been constructed. It is a tribute to the visionaries of the past and present who have provided their work in an unparalleled manner for the benefit of all who desire to study the brain.

This database contains two different types of images, those with individual dynamic highlighting of relevant anatomical structures and those with static labels. Each structure within the human brain has been tagged within many different images to provide an in-depth understanding of their spatial orientations and intricate relevant neuroanatomical and operative relationships.

The Neurosurgical Atlas neuroanatomy collection can be navigated in 2 different manners:

1. Search the collection for a structure of interest through The Neurosurgical Atlas neuroanatomy search engine.
2. Browse relevant categorizations of images based on the following topics:
   • Anterior Cranial Fossa
   • Brainstem
   • Cerebellopontine Angle and Posterior Fossa
   • Cerebellum
   • Cerebrovascular Anatomy
   • Cerebrum
   • Endonasal
   • Foramen Magnum and Jugular Foramen
   • Head and Neck Anatomy
   • Middle Cranial Fossa and Cavernous Sinus
   • Orbit
   • Sella, Parasellar, and Paraclival
   • Skull Anatomy
   • Temporal Bone
   • Spinal Cord
   • Spine
   • Ventricular Anatomy

For an added level of image navigation, click on an individual structure within any image to pull up the related images that highlight that structure of interest within the “Related Images” column on the right side of each image’s page. This added feature enables the reader to experience an unparalleled and detailed review of each structure through different perspectives and dissection planes.

In addition, when you click on any structure within each image, the relevant materials from the non-neuroanatomical sections of The Neurosurgical Atlas will appear at the bottom of the page. This functionality provides a nice integration between all sections of the Atlas and the relevant operative anatomy.

This resource has required an immense commitment by numerous people. These steps range from performing anatomical dissections and taking images of relevant anatomy to highlighting structures of interest within the images, reviewing the images for accuracy, providing a relevant description of the anatomy, and organizing the massive collection of images. Construction of this collection would truly not have been possible without the members of our team. I am especially thankful to Ben Hendricks and Mark Seifert for their herculean efforts in guiding and leading the team.

The following people have helped tremendously with the initial steps of highlighting and organizing many images:

The oversight of the following great mentors and educators produced some of the best anatomical images ever captured. Their generosity has also been demonstrated by contributing their work to The Neurosurgical Atlas and the neurosurgical community to better educate future generations. The fellows and trainees who have prepared these precious dissections deserve special appreciation. As Isaac Newton said, “If I have ever seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”

We also want to provide credit for Dr. Rhoton's work regarding the neuroanatomical images as follows: Courtesy of The Rhoton Collection, American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS)/Neurosurgical Research and Education Foundation (NREF).