The Allen Institute for Brain Science is taking the first major scientific step to create a searchable standards database for the brain with the launch of the Allen Cell Types Database.

The first release includes information on just 240 neurons out of hundreds of thousands in the mouse visual cortex, with a focus on the electrophysiology of those individual cells: the electrical pulses that tell a neuron to fire, initiating a pattern of neural activation that results in perception and action.

Allen Cell Types Database

Video

Understanding the fundamental building blocks of the brain

published 5/14/15

Web Information

Allen Institute for Brain Science: alleninstitute.org/
Allen Cell Types Database: celltypes.brain-map.org/

Articles

A First Big Step Toward Mapping the Human Brain

Wired 5/14/15 by Katie Palmer

Now, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, a key player in the BRAIN Initiative, has launched a database of neuronal cell types that serves as a first step toward a complete understanding of the brain. It’s the first milestone in the Institute’s 10-year MindScope plan, which aims to nail down how the visual system of a mouse works, starting by developing a functional taxonomy of all the different types of neurons in the brain.