LEGACY—INSTITUTIONS AND PEOPLE

TOPIC Legacy—Institutions and People

Korbinian Brodmann (1868-1918) and His

Contributions to Mapping the Cerebral Cortex
Marios Loukas, MD, PhD*
Christopher Pennell, MSc*
Christopher Groat, MSc*
R. Shane Tubbs, MS, PA-C, PhD†
Aaron A. Cohen-Gadol, MD, MSc‡
*Department of Anatomical Sciences,
School of Medicine, St George’s Univer-
sity, Grenada, West Indies; †Children’s
Hospital, Pediatric Neurosurgery, Bir-
mingham, Alabama; ‡Clarian Neurosci-
ence Institute, Goodman Campbell Brain
and Spine, and Indiana University
Department of Neurological Surgery,
Indianapolis, Indiana
Korbinian Brodmann is best remembered for his classification of cortical areas based on
cytoarchitechture. He was influenced by such greats as Alzheimer, Vogt, Edinger, Nissl,
and Weigert. Although first presented in 1903, Brodmann’s ‘‘mapping’’ continues to be
the lingua franca of cortical localization and his writings on this topic have become
neurological classics. Many of his areas have gone on to be associated with various
nervous functions such as hearing (areas 41 and 42) and vision (areas 17 and 18). Few
textbooks of neurology, neuroanatomy, or neurosurgery fail to mention the important
maps produced by Brodmann that are still used today. The present article discusses the
life and influence of Korbinian Brodmann on our understanding of the human brain.
KEY WORDS: Cortex, Function, History, Neuroanatomy, Neuroscience
Neurosurgery 68:6–11, 2011 DOI: 10.1227/NEU.0b013e3181fc5cac www.neurosurgery-online.com

Germany.1,3,4 His initial intentions were to

Correspondence:
R. Shane Tubbs, PhD,
Pediatric Neurosurgery,
Children’s Hospital,
1600 7th Ave S,
ACC 400,
Birmingham, AL 35233.
E-mail: rstubbs@uab.edu
Received, February 11, 2010.
Accepted, May 3, 2010.
Copyright ª 2010 by the
Congress of Neurological Surgeons
I
n 1909, Korbinian Brodmann (Figure 1)
published a monograph that continues to
guide the study of neuroscience even today.
Few physicians are unfamiliar with many of
the areas of the cerebral cortex as defined
by Brodmann in the early 20th century.
Many researchers have built on his ideas, but
Brodmann’s original work has yet to be replaced.
His influential life not only was relatively short
but also was marred by underappreciation.
He struggled his entire career to find a secure
position suitable for a researcher of his stature.
Despite these obstacles, he managed to con-
tribute research so significant that it has become
an integral part of today’s medical education
and neuroscience research. However, there is
very little in the English literature regarding
the life of this man whose expertise spanned
neurology, psychiatry, physiology, zoology, and
anthropology.1
Brodmann was born to Josef and Sophie
Brodmann in Liggersdorf, Hohenzollern, on
November 17, 1868. He was educated in his
hometown until the age of 12, when he studied
the humanities in Überlingen. He attended
Gymnasium in Sigmaringen and ultimately
graduated from Gymnasium in Konstanz. He
began his medical career in 1889 by studying
medicine at the universities of Munich, Wurz-
burg, Berlin, and Freiburg.2 On February 21,
1895, he received his Approbation (medical
degree), allowing him to practice medicine across
establish a general practice in the Schwarzwald
(Black Forest), but in the year after his licensing,
he decided to specialize by studying psychiatry at
the universities of Lausanne in Switzerland and
Munich. While in Munich, he also worked in
the Universitats-Kinderklinik und Poliklinik
(University Pediatric Clinic and Polyclinic) in
psychiatry under Dr Hubert von Grashey.5
Personally, Brodmann was described as ‘‘an
intense and earnest man, reserved to the point of
timidity, but could flare, on occasion, into
a temper.’’6,7
Brodmann spent the summer of 1896 re-
cuperating from a bout of diphtheria and
working as an assistant at the private Neuro-
biologische Zentralstation (Neurological Clinic)
focused on nervous diseases in Alexanderbad im
Fichtelgebirge (northern Bavaria).7 The clinic
was directed by Oskar Vogt, who described
Brodmann as having ‘‘broad scientific interests,
a good gift of observation, and great diligence
in widening his knowledge’’ (Figure 2).8 After
Brodmann’s recovery, he set out to prepare
himself for a career in research by studying
pathology in Leipzig. He received his Promotion
in 1898 after the successful defense of his thesis
regarding chronic ependymal sclerosis.4,8 After
receiving this degree, he worked under Otto
Binswager in Jena at the Grossherzogliche
Sächsische Landes-Irren-Heilanstalt (University
Psychiatric Clinic).

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FIGURE 1. Signed photograph of Korbinian Brodmann.
In 1900, Brodmann transferred to Frankfurt to work at the
Städtische Irrenanstalt at Frankfurt-am-Main (Municipal Mental
Asylum). During his brief stint in Frankfurt, he met Alois Alz-
heimer, and this relationship proved crucial in sparking Brod-
mann’s interest in the neuroanatomical foundations of neurology
and psychiatry.7 He was also influenced by such notable figures as
Karl Weigert and Franz Nissl, who were recognized for their
cellular staining techniques, as well as Ludwig Edinger, who
identified the oculomotor parasympathetic nucleus. He remained
in Frankfurt only until 1901, but this period proved essential in
shaping his future successes. The same year that Brodmann
received his Promotion in Leipzig, Oskar Vogt began creating his
multidisciplinary brain research institute, the Kaiser-Wilhelm-
Institut fur Hirnforschung in Berlin-Buch (Neurobiologisches
Institut), with divisions for neuroanatomy, neurohistology,
neurophysiology, neurochemistry, and genetics.9 Remembering
Brodmann’s gift for keen observation from their relationship in
Alexanderbad, Vogt (1870-1950) called on Brodmann to join
him and his wife, Cécile (1875-1962), in Berlin.3 When Brod-
mann arrived, Vogt suggested that he undertake a methodical
comparative study of the cells of the cerebral cortex. The rela-
tionships he formed in Frankfurt proved useful at the Neuro-
biological Institute in that he used new histological staining
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BRODMANN
FIGURE 2. Photograph of Brodmann and several colleagues. From left to right,
Brodmann, Cécile Vogt, Louise Bosse, Oskar Vogt, Max Lewandowski, and Max
Borchert.
techniques developed by Weigert (1845-1904) and Nissl (1860-
1919) to organize the cerebral cortex topographically.8 Weigert
had recently developed staining methods for neuroglial cells that
aided Nissl in his neurohistological studies. Nissl would go on to
work with Brodmann, and his experiences with neurohistology
and staining techniques, influenced by Weigert, would propel
Brodmann’s research. Before Brodmann’s research, Berlin, who
was Meynert’s pupil, had described the 6 layers of the human
cortex based on cell shape and size.
While at the Neurobiological Institute, Brodmann began
editing the Journal für Psychologie und Neurologie. The journal
lived on as the Journal für Hirnforschung and in 1994 became the
Journal of Brain Research. Between 1903 and 1908, he published
a series of 7 communications on comparative mammalian (over
64 different species) cytoarchitectonics.6 Brodmann defined
cytoarchitectonics as ‘‘the localization of the individual histo-
logical elements, their layering, and their parcellation in the adult
brain.’’6 The sixth and most well known of these was published in
1908 and contained the famous map in which he organized the
unique histological regions of the human cortex.10 These works
formed the basis for the publication of his 1909 monograph
Vergleichende Lokalisationslehre der Grosshirnrinde in ihren Prin-
zipien dargestellt auf Grund des Zellenbaues (The Principles of
Comparative Localization in the Cerebral Cortex Based on Cy-
toarchitectonics; Figure 3). Oskar and Cécile Vogt performed
research in myeloarchitectonics, a field focused on the parcella-
tion and layering of nerve fibers, and their work complemented
Brodmann’s. In April 1903, Brodmann made a joint presentation
with them at the meeting of the German Psychiatric Society in
Jena (Figure 4).3 With his presentation, Brodmann stated that
‘‘functional localization without the lead of anatomy is utterly
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 LOUKAS ET AL
FIGURE 3. Title page of Brodmann’s 1909 Vergleichende Lokalisationslehre
der Grosshirnrinde in ihren Prinzipien dargestellt auf Grund des Zellenbaues.
impossible.’’5 Brodmann’s publication gave a glimpse into the
neurobiological thinking of the time.8
While working with the Vogts, Brodmann submitted a habil-
itation regarding the cytoarchitectural division of the prosimian
cortex to the medical faculty in Berlin at the suggestion of Emil
Kraepelin. Habilitation is the academic qualification conferred on
individuals who have received a doctoral degree and submitted an
additional thesis that then allowed them to become a Privatdo-
zent (Private Docent), which was requisite for becoming a ten-
ured university professor. Brodmann’s habilitation was
inexplicably rejected by Berlin’s faculty, which prevented him
from acquiring a secure professorship. Vogt described his frus-
tration with this rejection by stating that ‘‘every effort to provide
[Brodmann] with a modest, but secure living has failed, mainly
due to non-understanding. The Medical Faculty in Berlin thereby
carry great guilt on their shoulders.’’4
In 1910, frustrated by his rejection and still in search of more
stable work, Brodmann traveled to Tübingen, where he worked
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as a physician. In his free time, he set up his own brain anatomy
research laboratory (Figure 5).4 In 1913, he was appointed as
a professor to the Faculty of Medicine in Tübingen on the
recommendation of Robert Gaupp and was warmly welcomed by
its faculty, including the famed anatomist August von Froriep.3,11
The outbreak of World War I interrupted the research of
Brodmann, who volunteered in a mental hospital in Tübingen.
For his service, was awarded the William Cross with swords in
February 1916 by His Majesty the King of Wurttemberg.
Despite his warm welcome in Tübingen by Gaupp and others,
Brodmann was still unable to obtain a position with the economic
security that allowed the opportunity for research. It was not until
May 1, 1916, that he was able to do so when Berthold Pfeiffer
offered him the Prosectorship at the Irrenanstalt Nietleben
(Mental Asylum) near Halle an der Saale. Walther Spielmeyer
applauded Pfieffer for recognizing Brodmann’s abilities and need
for security: ‘‘[Pfieffer] is in the honorable position of besides
having a clear mind about Brodmann’s extraordinary presence as
he also has the capability of taking care of him and offering him
an independent, carefree position.’’4 With this newfound secu-
rity, Brodmann met Margarete Francke and married her on April
3, 1917. Their first child, Isle, was born in 1918.4
In 1918, Brodmann moved to Munich to take charge of the
Department of Topographical Anatomy at the prestigious
Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Psychiatrie (Psychiatric Research
Institute) run by Emil Kraepelin. Kraepelin had formed a pow-
erful collaboration by inviting both Brodmann and Nissl because
he saw the importance of neurohistology and cytoarchitectonics
in the future of neuroanatomical research (Figure 6).2
Unfortunately, just as this group came together, Brodmann died
of sepsis on August 22, 1918, only 5 days after falling ill.3 Oskar
Vogt said of Brodmann,
Just at the moment when he had begun to live a very happy family
life and when, after years of interruption because of war work, he
was able to take up his research activities again in independent
and distinguished circumstances, just at the moment when his
friends were looking forward to a new era of successful research
from him, a devastating infection snatched him away after a short
illness, on 22 August 1918.
An intense worker, Brodmann was noted to be making writing
motions with his finger before dying.8
Even though Brodmann died before the age of 50, most
physicians are familiar with his work that created a topographical
map of the human cortex. In humans, he identified 47 histo-
logically distinct regions using novel staining techniques
introduced by Nissl, and in primates, he described 52 different
regions. At the time, there were 3 schools of thought for mapping
the brain contributed to by such men as Meynert, Betz, Ferrier,
Kaes, Bechterew, Edinger, Flechsig, Lewis, Clarke, and Ham-
marberg.12 Some sought to localize function on the basis of the
presence of individual histological elements; others believed each
cortical layer was associated with a specific function. Brodmann
believed there was little evidence for cell type determining
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 BRODMANN

FIGURE 4. Cerebral hemispheres of the human with Brodmann’s ‘‘areas’’ applied. From Vergleichende Lokalisationslehre der
Grosshirnrinde in ihren Prinzipien dargestellt auf Grund des Zellenbaues.

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 LOUKAS ET AL
FIGURE 5. Microtome used by Brodmann in making sections through the
cerebral cortexes of animals and humans.
function and was even more adamantly opposed to assigning
functions to specific layers. He said, "These [associations of
individual layers with specific functions], and all similar ex-
pressions that one encounters repeatedly today, especially in the
psychiatric and neurological literature, are utterly devoid of any
factual basis; they are purely arbitrary fictions and only destined
to cause confusion in uncertain minds.3,10
The third school of thought, of which Brodmann was a sup-
porter, was somewhat of a hybrid of the first two. It claimed that
regions of the brain that contained similar structures in both
layering and cell type could produce specific functions:
‘‘Cytoarchitectonics in particular is linked to the cellular lamina-
tion, that is to say the fact that the cellular elements making up the
cortex reveal a pattern of layers one above the other in section taken
perpendicular to the cortical surface, with a different composition
according to the site.’’3,10 Brodmann’s work sought to provide data
that would undermine those that attributed functionality to cortical
layers. Moreover, he was keen to relate neurohistology to stimu-
lation studies of other researchers of his day. Lastly, Brodmann
wished to develop mapping of the cortex that went beyond such
oversimplified maps that included, for example, only the ‘‘temporal
lobe’’ and desired to specify areas such the ‘‘auditory cortex.’’
Critics have claimed that too much credit is given to Brod-
mann’s work because it lacked a focus on functionality.13 The
works of Alfred Walter Campbell (1868-1937) are little known to
most physicians because Brodmann’s work all but erased them
from history. Some scholars, however, believe his 1905 mono-
graph, Histological Studies on the Localization of Cerebral Function,
to be the first monumental work on cytoarchitectonics.5
Campbell’s monograph preceded Brodmann’s main article on the
human cortex by 3 years and more heavily emphasized function.
The work described 17 regions of the cortex, each tied to specific
functions such as vision, sensation, and olfaction.5,13
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FIGURE 6. Brodmann at work at his microscope.
Despite the strictly anatomic nature of his work, Brodmann
did value function and hoped a topographical map like his would
lay the foundation for an understanding of brain functionality.
He wrote, ‘‘Although my studies of localization are based on
purely anatomic considerations and were initially conceived to
resolve only anatomic problems, from the outset, my ultimate
goal was the advancement of a theory of function and its path-
ological deviations.’’3,10
The significantly larger number of areas defined by Brodmann
compared with Campbell may be evidence for an appreciation of
exquisite complexity of the human brain and the subsequent
decision to initially focus solely on cytoarchitectural work. Fur-
thermore, criticism of Brodmann’s supposed lack of interest in
functional neuroanatomy seems unjust because his career was cut
short after his initial publications. Whatever the case may be,
evidence for the realization of his ultimate goal is given by the
regular associations of several areas with discrete functions.
Specifically, areas 4 and 17 are associated with the primary motor
and visual cortexes, respectively. Such discoveries by Brodmann
would be used as references for continued study of cytoarchi-
tecture such as those made by Constantin Von Economo (1876-
1931) and his subsequent publication on this topic in 1925.
An underappreciation of Brodmann’s talents made laying the
foundation for this functional localization difficult. Walther
Spielmeyer, who worked with Brodmann at the Psychiatric Re-
search Institute, indicated Brodmann’s marginalization in 1924,
claiming,
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If we look at [Brodmann’s] career, we are painfully aware that
little provision was made in German universities for a researcher
of Brodmann’s stature. . .Until his 48th year Brodmann had to
be content with subordinate posts that in no way corresponded to
his importance, and he watched with some bitterness as officious
mediocrity led to the most distinguished posts while he, the
successful and recognized researcher, in spite of all his lack of
pretension, could never attain the most modest permanent uni-
versity position.3
The rejection of Brodmann’s habilitation by the medical faculty
in Berlin was just one example of how he was marginalized in his
field, making funding for his research scarce. With his persistence,
however, his goal was realized; the data he produced made it
possible for today’s researchers to associate specific functions with
many of his described cortical areas. Brodmann’s ‘‘areas’’ thus
provide the modern researcher/clinician with the ability to apply
more discrete terminology to lobes of the brain, and continues to
be the lingua franca of modern cortical localization.
Disclosure
The authors have no personal financial or institutional interest in any of the
drugs, materials, or devices described in this article.
REFERENCES
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ternational Neurological Congress in Paris. Springfield, MO: C.C. Thomas; 1953.
2. Danek A, Rettig J. Korbinian Brodmann (1868-1918) [in German]. Schweiz Arch
Neurol Psychiatr. 1989;140(6):555-566.
3. Garey LJ. Brodmann’s ‘‘Localization in the Cerebral Cortex.’’ London, UK: Imperial
College Press; 1999.
4. Vogt O. Korbinian Brodmann, Lebenslauf. In Grosse Nervenärzte, Vol. 2, Stuttgart,
Germany: Thieme; 1959;40-44.
5. Campbell A. Histological Studies on the Localisation of Cerebral Function. Cam-
bridge, UK: Cambridge University Press; 1905.
6. Pearce JM. Historical note: Brodmann’s cortical maps. J Neurol Neurosurg Psy-
chiatry. 2005;76:259.
7. Rose JE. Korbinian Brodmann. Springfield, MO: Charles C. Thomas; 1970.
8. Garey LJ. Prof. Dr. Korbinian Brodmann. http://www.korbinian-brodmann.de/.
Accessed: February 8, 2010.
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Lenin’s brain. Brain Res Bull. 1998;47(4):291-296.
10. Brodmann K. Beiträge zur histologischen Lokalisation der Grosshirnrinde, VI:
Mitteilung: Die Cortexgliederung des Menschen. J Psychologie Neurologie.
1908;10:231-246.
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BRODMANN
11. Holdorff B. Founding years of clinical neurology in Berlin until 1933. J Hist
Neurosci. 2004;13(3):223-238.
12. Finger S. Origins of Neuroscience.: A History of Explorations Into Brain Function.
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Acknowledgment
We are very thankful to the staff at the Korbinian Brodmann
museum in Hohenfels, Lake Constance County, Germany, for
their kindness in providing us images of Professor Brodmann and
his laboratory.
COMMENT
L oukas et al outline the contributions of Korbinian Brodmann to the
modern understanding of the structure and function of the brain.
This nicely written work describes the life and times of a man whose
name is now intimately associated with the organization of the brain. It is
interesting to note that, although we now refer to Dr Brodmann s areas
on a routine basis when discussing brain function, during his lifetime
Dr Brodmann was grossly underappreciated and his contributions
denigrated. This article sheds some light on how Dr Brodmann thought
and what motivated him to parcel brain regions on the basis of subtle
cytoarchitectural differences. One of the more interesting facets of this
paper is precisely why he was repeatedly ignored and belittled by con-
temporary German academia. Unfortunately, the reader is left to ponder
that point: Was it simply because he did not believe in self-promotion?
Was it because his ideas were so radically different from the conventional
wisdom of the day? Was it due to personal differences with influential
academics? Or were there other factors not mentioned in the article? It is
interesting that in a life hampered by such a lack of support and cut short
by an untimely death, Dr Brodmann could still make such an enduring
contribution to science.
All in all, this is a clearly written and beautifully illustrated summary of
Korbinian Brodmann s life and work. The authors are to be commended
for it.
Oren Sagher
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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