SenseLab: Integration of Multidisciplinary Sensory Data

National Institutes Of Health Division Of Extramural Research, Bethesda MD

Investigators

Abstract

The overall goal of this Program Project, which embodies three research components, is to capitalize on previous work by this research group, involving SenseLab, to develop a set of neuroinformatics tools for supporting g the analysis of the functional organization of the olfactory system. The underlying rational is that, in the analysis of brain function, the generation of experimental data currently exceeds the means for archiving, analyzing, and integrating these data. The aim of project 1 is to understand the molecular sequences of the neural operations underlying olfactory perception; to this end the project will develop 4 databases. Project 2 will perform the necessary informatics research to support the other two projects and transfer the results to the programming core for practical applications. Project 3 will use data in the developed databases to construct and validate models of interacting neurons in the olfactory system. A main focus will be the understanding of the integrative properties on the mitral cells for the olfactory bulb. The databases and tools will enhance the understanding of neural mechanisms. They will be generalizable to other systems, to provide tools of wider use for integrating and searching neuroscientific data. This research is funded in part by the National Science Foundation through its participation in the Human Brain Project, which is a Federal interagency research initiative, mandated by Congress as part of the "Decade of the Brain".