One of these approaches is the analysis of the microstructural-anatomical organization of the cerebral cortex, known as cytoarchitecture since the beginning of the 20th century. This analysis has provided maps of the cortex, which are unfortunately schematic, incomplete and do not take into consideration the great structural variability between individuals. We have developed a computerized image analysis technique which overcomes these problems by providing statistically testable definitions of the borders of cortical areas. Moreover, these maps are constructed in a 3-dimensional representation of the human cortex by combining structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of living human brains and postmortem studies of the microstructural anatomy in a common spatial reference system. 

The results of functional imaging studies using positron emission tomography (PET) or magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which analyse the local activity and metabolic changes in cortical tissue associated with mental operations like perception and attention, can also be registered in this common spatial reference system. Finally, molecular data like the regional distribution of transmitter receptors, which are the neurochemical basis of signal transduction, show characteristic alterations in neurological and psychiatric diseases, and are targets of modern pharmacological interventions, can also assigned to the different structural/functional areas of the human cerebral cortex. Thus, an integration of structures from macro- to microscopical dimensions, their functions and molecular organization in a multimodal map of the cerebral cortex and its biological organization will allow well-guided travels to the widely unknown biological fundaments of the human mind.