Abstract
The Data and Resource Center (DRC) of the NIH-funded SPARC program is developing databases, connectivity maps, and simulation tools for the mammalian autonomic nervous system. The experimental data and mathematical models supplied to the DRC by the SPARC consortium are curated, annotated and semantically linked via a single knowledgebase. A data portal has been developed that allows discovery of data and models both via semantic search and via an interface that includes Google Map-like 2D flatmaps for displaying connectivity, and 3D anatomical organ scaffolds that provide a common coordinate framework for cross-species comparisons. We discuss examples that illustrate the data pipeline, which includes data upload, curation, segmentation (for image data), registration against the flatmaps and scaffolds, and finally display via the web portal, including the link to freely available online computational facilities that will enable neuromodulation hypotheses to be investigated by the autonomic neuroscience community and device manufacturers.
Highlights
The physiological function of every visceral organ in the body is linked intimately with autonomic control, and dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is often associated with chronic disease in these organs (Low, 2011)
The Data and Resource Center (DRC) cores store and process the data from the Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions” (SPARC) experimental community: (i) DAT-Core is providing data storage, management, and publication platforms; (ii) K-Core is providing a workflow for data curation and annotation, and a knowledgebase of neural connectivity and function; (iii) MAP-Core is providing tools for data processing, including image segmentation, and is mapping disparate data sets from multiple species into a common coordinate framework; and (iv) SIM-Core is providing a platform for computational modeling of the role of the ANS in regulating physiological activity and of neural interfaces and their neuromodulatory impact, based on the mapped pathways and computational models of ANS and organ function developed by SPARC modelers
Curation of derived data obtained through computational modeling or analysis is simplified, first of all, because it originates from a computational study and input data that can be linked and referenced to ascertain reproducibility, and secondly, because the generation through a computational pipeline allows to automatize the attachment of a large part of the required meta-data
Summary
The physiological function of every visceral organ in the body is linked intimately with autonomic control, and dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is often associated with chronic disease in these organs (Low, 2011). The DRC cores store and process the data from the SPARC experimental community: (i) DAT-Core is providing data storage, management, and publication platforms; (ii) K-Core is providing a workflow for data curation and annotation, and a knowledgebase of neural connectivity and function; (iii) MAP-Core is providing tools for data processing, including image segmentation, and is mapping disparate data sets from multiple species into a common coordinate framework; and (iv) SIM-Core is providing a platform for computational modeling of the role of the ANS in regulating physiological activity and of neural interfaces and their neuromodulatory impact, based on the mapped pathways and computational models of ANS and organ function developed by SPARC modelers. Please note that there are a number of terminologies used in this paper which are listed in the SPARC Glossary page (https://sparc.science/help/3vcLloyvrvmnK3Nopddrka)
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