What does “lighting up” actually mean?
In fMRI, a highlight usually means a change in blood oxygenation relative to a comparison condition—an indirect measure of neural activity. The rest of the brain has not switched off. Here, color identifies selected regions only; brightness and patch size do not represent measured activity.
These are examples of overlapping systems, not a way to read your thoughts. The same region contributes to many experiences, and the pattern depends on the task and person.
Evidence, anatomy, and how to read this model
Anatomy: Embedded left and right fsaverage5 pial surfaces from Nilearn / FreeSurfer (10,242 vertices per hemisphere). The cortical folds are a real reference mesh. Functional patches are hand-positioned, approximate educational overlays, not an atlas parcellation or registered statistical map. Deep structures are enlarged schematic markers at approximate locations, not segmented anatomical shapes. Only selected cortical and deep regions are included; this is not a complete brain atlas. The cerebellum and full brainstem are not modeled. L/R refer to the brain’s own left/right; A/P mean anterior (front) / posterior (back), and S means superior (top).
Software and data notices
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FreeSurfer reference anatomy: FreeSurfer license. Three.js r160; Nilearn BSD license. Data obtained September 2026.