  BrainPainter is a software for the 3D visualization of human brain
structures; it generates colored brain images using user-defined biomarker data
for each brain region. However, BrainPainter is only able to generate human
brain images. In this paper, we present updates to the existing BrainPainter
software which enables the generation of mouse brain images. We load meshes for
each mouse brain region, based on the Allen Mouse Brain Atlas, into Blender, a
powerful 3D computer graphics engine. We then use Blender to color each region
and generate images of subcortical, outer-cortical, inner-cortical, top and
bottom view renders. In addition to those views, we add new render angles and
separate visualization settings for the left and right hemispheres. While
BrainPainter traditionally ran from the browser (
https://brainpainter.csail.mit.edu ), we also created a graphical user
interface that launches image-generation requests in a user-friendly way, by
connecting to the Blender backend via a Docker API. We illustrate a use case of
BrainPainter for modeling the progression of tau protein accumulation in a
mouse study. Our contributions can help neuroscientists visualize brains in
mouse studies and show disease progression. In addition, integration into
Blender can subsequently enable the generation of complex animations using a
moving camera, generation of complex mesh deformations that simulate tumors and
other pathologies, as well as visualization of toxic proteins using Blender's
particle system.
