IInformation-reference system on human brain development

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Available information on the intrauterine maturation of the human brain is fragmentary; thus, the systematization of these data in the form of an information-reference system is needed. A modern solution would be the creation of a multimodal digital atlas, which would combine images of the developing brain at the macromorphological, tissue, and cellular levels.
 AIM: This study aimed to create a prototype of an informational reference system on human brain development, incorporating a digital multimodal atlas with the ability to view specific brain regions.
 METHODS: The creation of a prototype informational reference system on the prenatal morphogenesis of the human brain involved the following stages: researching the subject area, developing an informational model, defining automation tasks and functionality of the information system, selecting hardware and software tools, testing, and analyzing the results.
 RESULTS: A prototype of the informational reference system “Human Brain Development Atlas” was developed, consisting of three main blocks for each ontogenetic stage: (1) description of the brain development stage, which includes a macroscopic description of the brain structure, an overview of key morphogenetic events, and galleries with hematoxylin and eosin-, Nissl-, and Mallory-stained sections; reference atlases, which contains annotated maps of brain sections at different stages of prenatal ontogenesis; and 3) immunohistochemical atlases, which provides data on the developmental translational profile of brain cells. Currently, some materials are already available on the project website: https://brainmorphology.science/ru/
 CONCLUSIONS: Modern information technologies can be used for data collection and processing on the prenatal morphogenesis of the human brain. The creation of an informational reference system on the prenatal morphogenesis of the human brain can contribute to the development of new methods for early diagnosis and treatment of various nervous system disorders.
 The data presented in this article were previously published in English in “Life” (doi: 10.3390/life13051182) and are published in “Morphology” in Russian with the consent of the authors and copyright holders and in accordance with the terms of the CC BY license of the primary article.