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Five years on for the Allen Brain Atlas

In their Perspective 'The Allen Brain Atlas: 5 years and beyond' (Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 10, 821-828; 2009), Allan R. Jones, Caroline C. Overly and Susan M. Sunkin of the Allen Institute describe an experiment on a massive scale: a web-based, genome-wide atlas of gene expression in the adult mouse brain The development of this atlas faced a combination of great technical challenges and a non-traditional open research model, they write, and it encountered many hurdles on the path to completion and community adoption. Having overcome these challenges, it is now a fundamental tool for neuroscientists worldwide and has set the stage for the creation of other similar open resources. Nevertheless, there are many untapped opportunities for exploration.
The Perspective, in the November issue of Nature Reviews Neuroscience, looks back on the 5 years from the inception of the Allen Brain Atlas to the present, highlighting challenges and the contributions that it has made to neuroscience. The authors discuss the advantages and caveats of using this unique resource, how it is currently being used and point to opportunities for further exploration. They conclude by describing the ever-expanding suite of related resources that have become available since the atlas was launched, and comment on those that will be coming in the next few years.

Allen Brain Atlas portal.
Allen developing mouse brain map.
Allen Institute human cortex study.
NeuroCommons project.
Mutant mouse regional resource centers.
Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
About Nature Reviews Neuroscience.


Posted by Maxine Clarke on October 22, 2009
Categories: Disciplines | | Comments (0)

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