The Neuroanatomical Rat Brain Viewer (NeuARt)

Publisher Summary The neuroanatomical rat brain viewer (NeuARt) is based on neuroanatomical extensions to the neurocore database system that allow neuroscientists to browse, compare, and query complex, spatially distributed patterns of the label obtained from different experiments at their desktops through a network connection. This chapter describes an ongoing informatics-based project to simplify and optimize the process of superimposing neuroanatomical data onto the plates of a brain atlas with multimedia databasing and network technology. The basic functionality of the NeuARt viewer is to allow users to query a database of results from neuroanatomical experiments, and to place the results of queries into an active set. The display of the active set over atlas plates may be manipulated dynamically so that each individual's result set may be displayed, hidden, reordered, and discarded. The five defined classes of anatomical manipulations are chemical treatment, tracing, fixation, sectioning, and staining. The display manager is the focal point of most of the user interactions with the system. This chapter describes the neuroanatomical informatics tool built on neurocore architecture developed elsewhere within the University of Southern California Brain Project (USCBP).