The Brain Image Library: A Community-Contributed Microscopy Resource for Neuroscientists

Abstract

Advancements in microscopy techniques and computing technologies have enabled researchers to digitally reconstruct brains at micron scale. As a result, community efforts like the BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN) have generated thousands of whole-brain imaging datasets to trace neuronal circuitry and comprehensively map cell types. This data holds valuable information that extends beyond initial analyses, opening avenues for variation studies and robust classification of cell types in specific brain regions. However, the size and heterogeneity of these imaging data have historically made storage, sharing, and analysis difficult for individual investigators and impractical on a broad community scale. Here, we introduce the Brain Image Library (BIL), a public resource serving the neuroscience community that provides a persistent centralized repository for brain microscopy data. BIL currently holds thousands of brain datasets and provides an integrated analysis ecosystem, allowing for exploration, visualization, and data access without the need to download, thus encouraging scientific discovery and data reuse.

Left-Right Brain-Wide Asymmetry of Neuroanatomy in the Mouse Brain

“…Going forward, additional methods should be explored to further interrogate the question of cross-species comparisons, but at present, major consistency across species seems absent. As brain-wide mapping studies become easier to perform in small vertebrates, we encourage authors to publish their raw images in open-source repositories like the brain image library 103 or Zenodo.org, along with documentation to identify the left and right hemispheres. The presence in mice of a brain-wide signature of anatomical asymmetry will further enable research into the question of developmental and cellular underpinnings of asymmetry in humans, and publicly available datasets like those used in our study will be invaluable toward this effort.…”