Neuroscience
Google Maps and related geomapping services provide high-resolution satellite maps to anyone with an internet connection and have set the standard for online digital mapping. We are now beginning to witness similar digital mapping technologies spilling over into other non-related fields, one of the more interesting of which is neuroscience and the collaborative digital mapping of the brain.
Launched less than a year ago, BrainMaps.org has rapidly developed to lead the field in digital brain mapping technologies. With several terabytes of ultra high-resolution brain image data, consisting of several dozen mouse, monkey, and human brains, its online brain image database is the largest and most diverse currently available. This massive image data is integrated with structural information regarding spatial locations of different brain areas and markers, and the relations between them. And in the collaborative spirit, online users are free to add their own labels and annotations, and to place landmarks throughout the digital brains they explore. Users may even share their images, landmarks, and other annotations with other users in the BrainMaps forum, which in many ways parallels the Google Maps Community, but on a smaller scale.
The U.S.-sponsored 'Decade of the Brain' has come and gone; it officially ended in the year 2000. It would take another five years before BrainMaps.org came onto the scene, and in a way, it encapulates what the Decade of the Brain should have been about: Collaborative digital brain mapping and a resource available to everyone with an internet connection.
- Synapse Resolution Whole-brain Atlases
It is well-known that the highest resolution whole brain atlases are currently at BrainMaps.org, which has been compared to a Google Maps for the brain. However, these atlases are 0.46 microns per pixel, and are not sufficient to discern individual synapses,...
- The Decade Of Reverse Engineering The Brain (2005 - 2015)
We are witnessing a renaissance in brain science and technology. Science is examining the brain in ever increasing detail to discern important components of brain structure and function, all of it leading to a reverse engineering of the brain. Within...
- Beyond Brainmaps.org
As the principal architect of BrainMaps.org, starting with its public launch on May 17, 2005, and ending with my (literally) moving onto new vistas in June, 2009, I can say that it has been an exciting and worthwhile journey. The community of active data...
- Brainmaps.org Featured On The Cover Of Neuroimage
- Shawn Mikula BrainMaps.org was featured on the March 15, 2007, cover of NeuroImage for the article entitled, "Internet-Enabled High-Resolution Brain Mapping and Virtual Microscopy". This is only the beginning. BrainMaps.org is far more than a cool...
- Google Earth For The Brain
- Shawn Mikula Users of BrainMaps.org have often described it as a Google Maps for the Brain, which is interesting because we have taken Google Maps as an inspiration and a guide for what mapping the brain should be like. In line with this, one of the...
Neuroscience
Collaborative Digital Brain Mapping Comes of Age
Google Maps and related geomapping services provide high-resolution satellite maps to anyone with an internet connection and have set the standard for online digital mapping. We are now beginning to witness similar digital mapping technologies spilling over into other non-related fields, one of the more interesting of which is neuroscience and the collaborative digital mapping of the brain.
Launched less than a year ago, BrainMaps.org has rapidly developed to lead the field in digital brain mapping technologies. With several terabytes of ultra high-resolution brain image data, consisting of several dozen mouse, monkey, and human brains, its online brain image database is the largest and most diverse currently available. This massive image data is integrated with structural information regarding spatial locations of different brain areas and markers, and the relations between them. And in the collaborative spirit, online users are free to add their own labels and annotations, and to place landmarks throughout the digital brains they explore. Users may even share their images, landmarks, and other annotations with other users in the BrainMaps forum, which in many ways parallels the Google Maps Community, but on a smaller scale.
The U.S.-sponsored 'Decade of the Brain' has come and gone; it officially ended in the year 2000. It would take another five years before BrainMaps.org came onto the scene, and in a way, it encapulates what the Decade of the Brain should have been about: Collaborative digital brain mapping and a resource available to everyone with an internet connection.
- Synapse Resolution Whole-brain Atlases
It is well-known that the highest resolution whole brain atlases are currently at BrainMaps.org, which has been compared to a Google Maps for the brain. However, these atlases are 0.46 microns per pixel, and are not sufficient to discern individual synapses,...
- The Decade Of Reverse Engineering The Brain (2005 - 2015)
We are witnessing a renaissance in brain science and technology. Science is examining the brain in ever increasing detail to discern important components of brain structure and function, all of it leading to a reverse engineering of the brain. Within...
- Beyond Brainmaps.org
As the principal architect of BrainMaps.org, starting with its public launch on May 17, 2005, and ending with my (literally) moving onto new vistas in June, 2009, I can say that it has been an exciting and worthwhile journey. The community of active data...
- Brainmaps.org Featured On The Cover Of Neuroimage
- Shawn Mikula BrainMaps.org was featured on the March 15, 2007, cover of NeuroImage for the article entitled, "Internet-Enabled High-Resolution Brain Mapping and Virtual Microscopy". This is only the beginning. BrainMaps.org is far more than a cool...
- Google Earth For The Brain
- Shawn Mikula Users of BrainMaps.org have often described it as a Google Maps for the Brain, which is interesting because we have taken Google Maps as an inspiration and a guide for what mapping the brain should be like. In line with this, one of the...