BrainMaps - a unified web platform for novel model organism brain atlases

2023 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23KF0076
• Research Institution: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University
• Principal Investigator: REITER Samuel 沖縄科学技術大学院大学, 計算行動神経科学ユ ニット, 准教授 (60869155)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): HARSTON JOHN 沖縄科学技術大学院大学, 計算行動神経科学ユニット, 外国人特別研究員
• Project Period (FY): 2023-04-25 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: Neuroanatomy, / comparative neuroscience / cloud computing / software / BrainMaps

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

Our work in the past year has been in developing a web-based platform for neuroanatomy across species. The platform allows users to upload 3d anatomical data, and visualize it in the cloud. Work has concentrated on the technical aspects of the platform 1) converting stacks of uncompressed images into a modern anatomical format that is cloud-native (Zarr). 2) This data is hosted on amazon cloud S3 bucket, and visible by the platform. 3) The platform can render 3d volumes in a pyramidal fashion, to allow performant multi-scale viewing. 4) The platform organizes different brains from different species, and controls access to data depending on user. 5) The platform is being built in a federated way, to allow new users to rapidly spin up their own instance of the platform for their own usage.