A synchrotron X-ray imaging strategy to map large animal brains

•X-ray microtomography tested successfully for whole animal brain imaging.•Whole brain mapping demonstrated on two animal models, Drosophila and mouse.•Isotropic high spatial resolution sufficient for the mapping of neural networks.•The imaging strategy implemented at four synchrotron facilities in parallel.•Imaging speed allows the mapping of an entire human brain in few years.