Interactive brain map in the Invertebrate Brain Platform (IVB-PF)

As previously reported in INCF 2011, the Invertebrate Brain Platform (IVB-PF; http://invbrain.neuroinf.jp) project organized by the J-Node of the INCF has been initiated with the goal of integrating research results and resources from various fields, from the morphology, physiology, pharmacology, and molecular biology of single neurons to behavioral studies to promote the comprehensive understanding of the brain structure and function of invertebrates. The IVB-PF comprises databases for representative invertebrate species, such as silkmoth, honeybee, cricket, cockroach, two species of flies, ant, and crayfish, ranging from the physiology and morphology of individual neurons to the general structure of the central nervous systems. It also provides an overview over invertebrate neuroethology and a growing number of detailed descriptions dealing with sensory physiology and neuroanatomy, each of which is cross-linked to databases for more efficient usage by a variety of users.

Recently, we have implemented a new database presentation methodology for individually labeled silkmoth neurons using our silkmoth standard brain atlas. The standard brain of the silkmoth was constructed from confocal image stacks of immunostained brains. Neuronal morphologies in the silkmoth brain registered in the database were mapped onto the standard brain so that neuronal locations in the brain could be elucidated in microscopic level. Selection of individual mapped neurons in the standard brain atlas provides immediate access to the associated metadata (e.g. physiology of the neuron) of the corresponding neuron in the database and vice versa, metadata are also linked to the corresponding neuronal morphology in the standard brain. This data presentation methodology implemented using the example of the silkmoth brain will be expanded to the neuronal data from other invertebrate species registered in the IVB-PF and allow users to obtain a better understanding of invertebrate brain structure and microcircuits in the future.