Reconstructions of Digitally Uploaded Neurons

Abstract

NeuroMorpho.Org is an online, centrally curated repository of reconstructed neuronal morphologies containing contributions from over 500 labs of more than 50 animal species. Version 7.8 contains 112,244 downloadable digital reconstructions. Pooling data together provide increased research opportunities. The curation process involves three stages. First, potential journal articles are sourced by a search program that feeds into a database for expert review. Articles are manually labeled as positive or negative based on the presence of neuronal reconstructions and positive data are requested from the authors. Next, new neurons received are prepared for upload through visual inspection: custom-built and commercial research software are used to manually edit the morphologies before post-processing with automated programs that scan the files for residual errors. Once approved, the neurons are grouped by and carefully annotated for experimental condition and other essential biological details, including brain region and microscopic imaging modality. As an ever-growing repository, NeuroMorpho.Org tallies 13,720,290 downloads (corresponding to more than 2.5 million hours of manual reconstructions) from over 160 countries.