Crowdsourcing the brain

Waitt Family Foundation Project Develops Whole Brain Catalog free online resource aims to revolutionize neuroscience collaborations via a 3D high-resolution virtual catalog of the brain. LA JOLLA, Calif., Oct. 16 -- At the year's biggest international meeting of neuroscientists, researchers from the University of California, San Diego will unveil a tool that could revolutionize the way scientists and students explore and map the mysteries of the brain. Beginning Oct. 18, the team will demonstrate beta version 0.7 of the Whole Brain Catalog at Neuroscience 2009, the 39th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held this year in Chicago. The Whole Brain Catalog is a ground-breaking, open-source, 3D virtual environment that connects members of the international neuroscience community. Researchers at UC San Diego's Center for Research in Biological Systems (CRBS) have been developing the Catalog since 2008 with support from the Waitt Family Foundation. The goal of the Whole Brain Project: to pioneer brain research at the intersection of neuroscience, information technology, data management and scientific visualization. As the Project's flagship, the Whole Brain Catalog aims to accelerate resolving the mysteries of the brain while also facilitating solutions to today's intractable challenges in brain research through cooperation and "crowd-sourcing."
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