This project will develop and operate a community infrastructure, CRCNS.ORG, to enable the sharing of data needed by the computational neuroscience community, to enhance and foster collaborations among theoretical and experimental researchers, and to further the development and testing of computational theories of brain function. This infrastructure will widen the spectrum of techniques applied to brain data, enabling discoveries that go beyond the scopes of individual laboratories.
The infrastructure targets the communities of neuroscience and related fields such as computer science, physics, mathematics, statistics, and engineering in which investigators seek access to high-quality neurophysiology data, including electrical, magnetic, and optical recordings from single neurons, neural ensembles, and brain regions. Development activities are aimed at lowering the barriers to contributing, accessing, and using neurophysiology data. Standardized methods will be developed for storing and annotating data in a self-describing, hierarchical format, and enabling flexible on-line access. Scalable methods will be developed to enable users to find potentially useful data and to provide means for online visualization and some on-line analysis. Operations activities will support users and data contributors as well as community outreach activities. Three summer training courses will be held to introduce students and researchers to methods and conventions concerning organization, visualization, and analysis of neuroscience data, and how to use the specific resources of the repository.
