55 research outputs found
A Primer of Visual Stimulus Presentation Software
Contains fulltext :
80950.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access
The Scalable Brain Atlas: instant web-based access to public brain atlases and related content
The Scalable Brain Atlas (SBA) is a collection of web services that provide
unified access to a large collection of brain atlas templates for different
species. Its main component is an atlas viewer that displays brain atlas data
as a stack of slices in which stereotaxic coordinates and brain regions can be
selected. These are subsequently used to launch web queries to resources that
require coordinates or region names as input. It supports plugins which run
inside the viewer and respond when a new slice, coordinate or region is
selected. It contains 20 atlas templates in six species, and plugins to compute
coordinate transformations, display anatomical connectivity and fiducial
points, and retrieve properties, descriptions, definitions and 3d
reconstructions of brain regions. The ambition of SBA is to provide a unified
representation of all publicly available brain atlases directly in the web
browser, while remaining a responsive and light weight resource that
specializes in atlas comparisons, searches, coordinate transformations and
interactive displays.Comment: Rolf K\"otter sadly passed away on June 9th, 2010. He co-initiated
this project and played a crucial role in the design and quality assurance of
the Scalable Brain Atla
Shapley Ratings in Brain Networks
Recent applications of network theory to brain networks as well as the expanding empirical databases of brain architecture spawn an interest in novel techniques for analyzing connectivity patterns in the brain. Treating individual brain structures as nodes in a directed graph model permits the application of graph theoretical concepts to the analysis of these structures within their large-scale connectivity networks. In this paper, we explore the application of concepts from graph and game theory toward this end. Specifically, we utilize the Shapley value principle, which assigns a rank to players in a coalition based upon their individual contributions to the collective profit of that coalition, to assess the contributions of individual brain structures to the graph derived from the global connectivity network. We report Shapley values for variations of a prefrontal network, as well as for a visual cortical network, which had both been extensively investigated previously. This analysis highlights particular nodes as strong or weak contributors to global connectivity. To understand the nature of their contribution, we compare the Shapley values obtained from these networks and appropriate controls to other previously described nodal measures of structural connectivity. We find a strong correlation between Shapley values and both betweenness centrality and connection density. Moreover, a stepwise multiple linear regression analysis indicates that approximately 79% of the variance in Shapley values obtained from random networks can be explained by betweenness centrality alone. Finally, we investigate the effects of local lesions on the Shapley ratings, showing that the present networks have an immense structural resistance to degradation. We discuss our results highlighting the use of such measures for characterizing the organization and functional role of brain networks
Hierarchy and Dynamics of Neural Networks
Contains fulltext :
88364.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access
A connectivity rating for vertices in networks
We compute the influence of a vertex on the connectivity structure of a directed network by using Shapley value theory. In general, the computation of such ratings is highly inefficient. We show how the computation can be managed for many practically interesting instances by a decomposition of large networks into smaller parts. For undirected networks, we introduce an algorithm that computes all vertex ratings in linear time, if the graph is cycle composed or chordal.4th IFIP International Conference on Theoretical Computer ScienceRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI
Criteria for Optimizing Cortical Hierarchies with Continuous Ranges
In a recent paper (Reid et al., 2009) we introduced a method to calculate optimal hierarchies in the visual network that utilizes continuous, rather than discrete, hierarchical levels, and permits a range of acceptable values rather than attempting to fit fixed hierarchical distances. There, to obtain a hierarchy, the sum of deviations from the constraints that define the hierarchy was minimized using linear optimization. In the short time since publication of that paper we noticed that many colleagues misinterpreted the meaning of the term “optimal hierarchy”. In particular, a majority of them were under the impression that there was perhaps only one optimal hierarchy, but a substantial difficulty in finding that one. However, there is not only more than one optimal hierarchy but also more than one option for defining optimality. Continuing the line of this work we look at additional options for optimizing the visual hierarchy: minimizing the number of violated constraints and minimizing the maximal size of a constraint violation using linear optimization and mixed integer programming. The implementation of both optimization criteria is explained in detail. In addition, using constraint sets based on the data from Felleman and Van Essen (1991), optimal hierarchies for the visual network are calculated for both optimization methods
From Functional Genomics to Functional Immunomics: New Challenges, Old Problems, Big Rewards
The development of DNA microarray technology a decade ago led to the establishment of functional genomics as one of the most active and successful scientific disciplines today. With the ongoing development of immunomic microarray technology—a spatially addressable, large-scale technology for measurement of specific immunological response—the new challenge of functional immunomics is emerging, which bears similarities to but is also significantly different from functional genomics. Immunonic data has been successfully used to identify biological markers involved in autoimmune diseases, allergies, viral infections such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), influenza, diabetes, and responses to cancer vaccines. This review intends to provide a coherent vision of this nascent scientific field, and speculate on future research directions. We discuss at some length issues such as epitope prediction, immunomic microarray technology and its applications, and computation and statistical challenges related to functional immunomics. Based on the recent discovery of regulation mechanisms in T cell responses, we envision the use of immunomic microarrays as a tool for advances in systems biology of cellular immune responses, by means of immunomic regulatory network models
A proposal for a coordinated effort for the determination of brainwide neuroanatomical connectivity in model organisms at a mesoscopic scale
In this era of complete genomes, our knowledge of neuroanatomical circuitry
remains surprisingly sparse. Such knowledge is however critical both for basic
and clinical research into brain function. Here we advocate for a concerted
effort to fill this gap, through systematic, experimental mapping of neural
circuits at a mesoscopic scale of resolution suitable for comprehensive,
brain-wide coverage, using injections of tracers or viral vectors. We detail
the scientific and medical rationale and briefly review existing knowledge and
experimental techniques. We define a set of desiderata, including brain-wide
coverage; validated and extensible experimental techniques suitable for
standardization and automation; centralized, open access data repository;
compatibility with existing resources, and tractability with current
informatics technology. We discuss a hypothetical but tractable plan for mouse,
additional efforts for the macaque, and technique development for human. We
estimate that the mouse connectivity project could be completed within five
years with a comparatively modest budget.Comment: 41 page
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