Retina Meshes and Simulation Support Available with Whole Brain Catalog 0.7.7
The Whole Brain Catalog version 0.7.7 was released Monday, May 10 with new simulation support and additional visualization options. The Catalog was remodeled and expanded to house new data that was collected from the mouse retina. 3D meshes of the eyes, optic tracts, optic chiasm, and skull have been added, providing a more comprehensive view of the mouse brain.
In addition to the new meshes, retina data from GENSAT’s Retina Project will soon be made available through the Whole Brain Catalog. GENSAT collects gene expression data from different cells of the retina and organizes it into a searchable database. However, the process of searching for and downloading the datasets directly from GENSAT is laborious and time-consuming. Once the data is integrated into the Whole Brain Catalog, it will be more accessible to the neuroscience community. Developers also hope to integrate additional retina data from the National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research (NCMIR) and the Cell Centered Database (CCDB) into the Whole Brain Catalog to build a robust and comprehensive retina database.
New simulated network models were added to version to 0.7.7. Padraig Gleeson from the Silver lab has worked closely with Whole Brain Catalog developers to ensure that neuroConstruct simulation models are compatible with the Catalog’s visualization and simulation capabilities. Models generated in neuroConstruct can be uploaded into the Catalog and used within the Catalog’s 3D environment. Gleeson also helped during the development of the Catalog’s simulation support, and portions of neuroConstruct were actually integrated into the Whole Brain Catalog’s deployment so that round-trip simulations could be generated more easily. An experimental version of the Whole Brain Catalog’s round-trip simulation support has been integrated into version 0.7.7. NeuroConstruct models are compatible with the Catalog’s round-trip simulation support, so they can be used to run simulations and collect resulting data within the Catalog.
Version 0.7.7 also included various bug fixes to remove friction points for Catalog users. For more details about this release, visit the Release Notes on the Whole Brain Catalog wiki.
