Mapping the Brain and Its Functions Integrating Enabling Technologies into Neuroscience Research (1991) / Chapter Skim
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Computer and Information Technology in Biomedical and Neuroscience Research
Computer and Information Technology in Biomedical and Neuroscience Research
Pages 66-90
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From page 66... ...
This chapter describes how a complex of electronic and digital resources for neuroscience might work in the future, and supports this description with examples obtained in part from the task forces organized to provide advice to the committee and the open hearings the committee sponsored. The chapter also dis-cusses the increasing reliance of biomedical research on computerized resources and the current trends in computer science and information technology that make the goal of a complex of resources attainable.
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From page 67... ...
Smith calls up the three-dimensional anatomical database for this brain region and splits the screen to allow sufficient comparisons of her new map with other maps of the nucleus that have been deposited in the database. She looks at maps from normal animals and maps from genetically engineered animals to see if area X exhibits the same general structure in both groups.
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From page 68... ...
Dr. Smith instructs the computer to run a comparison of the expected protein sequence with the partial sequence of Dr.
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From page 69... ...
The protein disrupts the potassium channels by interfering with cyclic AMP, but a new drug that increases the effectiveness of cyclic AMP blocks this effect in Dr. Smith's animals.
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From page 70... ...
Today's computer graphics from the dazzling special effects of movies to the variety of the evening news promotionscould not have been accomplished without the recent improvements in computer hardware and software. Computer graphics is a subspecialty of computer science pioneered by Ivan Sutherland and others in the early 1960s (Goldberg, 1988~.
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From page 71... ...
Science Foundation convened a panel to consider scientific visualization in many fields, including biomedical science (McCormick et al., 1987~. This panel observed that the human eye recognizes geometric and spatial relationships faster than it recognizes other relationships and that the visual display of data would be more efficient for human pattern recognition than displays of numbers and text.
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From page 72... ...
offering a method to see the unseen" (McCormick et al., 1987~. One of the most successful applications of scientific visualization in biomedical science has been the modeling of molecular structures from data derived from x-ray crystallography.
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From page 73... ...
These dynamic computer models are sufficiently similar to the in viva molecules that they may soon help scientists to predict which drugs might stop viruses, how genes are turned on and off, or how two molecules interact with each other (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 1990~. Not only are these models useful for data analysis but they greatly enhance the communication of research results by making those results much more accessible to scientists and nonscientists alike (U.S.
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From page 74... ...
Increased use of computers in data collection and analysis is apparent from the number of private companies that now market computer hardware and software for neuroscience applications. At the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting in 1990, 10 companies exhibited workstations useful for neuroscience research, and 43 companies offered software packages that did almost everything from three-dimensional reconstructions of neurons to quantification and graphic display of fluorescent color changes in ion-sensitive dye experiments.
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From page 75... ...
NIH also maintains a Division of Computer Research and Technology that, in addition to NIH administrative computing oversight, conducts advanced research into such areas as computer modeling of molecular structure, image processing, and scientific workstation development (National Institutes of Health, Division of Computer Research and Technology, 1989~. NIH and the National Science Foundation also provide a number of
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From page 76... ...
has developed many easily accessible biomedical databases. In addition, the NLM's Center for Biotechnology Information, in conjunction with its efforts to develop useful scientific databases and database linkages, is concerned with the incorporation of computer graphics as user interface tools (National Library of Medicine, 1986~.
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From page 77... ...
Relational databases are typically used for textual and not for image data. Database management systems that use object-oriented techniques represent the cutting edge in database technology and are expected to progress rapidly in the coming decade.
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From page 78... ...
These databases are generally read-only and include bibliographic reference databases, repositories of historical or archival material, certain types of scientific databases, and directories of various sorts. At the opposite end of the spectrum are informal databases, which are administered, maintained, and updated by users.
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From page 79... ...
In its long-range plan, articulated in 1986, the NLM defined a number of trends for the future, including databases containing image data, full-text storage and retrieval, and electronic publishing of scientific literature. Especially prominent among the biomedical databases developed outside of the NLM are the protein sequence and genome databases, which serve at least 23,000 scientists (Table 4-2~.
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From page 81... ...
Ideally, users should be able to access information from a number of protein or genome databases, but currently this is impossible because independent development has resulted in quite separate database structures. For example, some of the early databases (e.g., the Protein Identification Resource [PIR]
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From page 82... ...
It is clear that much can be learned from the experiences of the protein and genome databases. But as noted in the previous chapter, neuroscience data differ significantly from protein and gene sequence data and present complex problems in terms of three-dimensional displays and integration across varied data types.
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From page 83... ...
Their objective is to construct three-dimensional color atlases, based on real images of brain sections, that are linked to other image, text, and numerical data regarding the anatomy, chemistry, and physiology of specific brain regions. This work is also intended to develop useful software for the extraction of important features and for interfaces that allow transitions from one data type to another.
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From page 84... ...
Some have envisioned this environment as a "National Collaboratory"2 (Lederberg and Uncapher, 1989~. Its cornerstone would be vast networks of electronic links built on a foundation that was begun little more than 20 years ago.
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From page 85... ...
The full utility of such large-scale networking can be realized only if standards are established to enable effective communication among the computer systems that constitute the network (National Academy of Sciences, 1989~. The Internet Activities Board and its subsidiary groups, the Internet Research and Engineering Task Forces, are responsible for guiding research and development of standard protocols for Internet computer communication.
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From page 86... ...
Citing the lack of adequate network technology for "scientific collaboration or access to unique scientific resources" and the aggressive efforts of Japan and Europe to upgrade their networks, the OSTP report, issued in 1987, strongly recommended that federal resources be allocated to upgrade existing networks and undertake the research necessary to advance network technology even farther. In 1988, the National Research Council's National Research Network Review Committee issued a report that expanded the specific recommendations made by OSTP but also strongly recommended the implementation of a National Research Network.
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From page 87... ...
On numerous occasions, the newsletter has reported significant research in advance of formal publication, thus functioning as an electronic bulletin board. Genetic mapping is a major aim of the worm community, as it is of many scientists engaged in the study of invertebrate models (National Research Council, 1985~.
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From page 88... ...
Conclusion The role of electronic networks in biomedical science can be expected to expand as network capabilities are upgraded. With these upgrades and the implementation of such projects as the National Digital Library System and the worm community initiative, the formation of national or international collaboratories becomes a more realistic goal for many fields of science.
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From page 89... ...
Bethesda, Md.: Howard Hughes Medical Institute Office of Communications.
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From page 90... ...
Genome and Selected Scientific Databases. Background paper prepared for the Committee on a National Neural Circuitry Database, Institute of Medicine.
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