OpenScope opens the Allen Brain Observatory platform to the community, allowing for more sophisticated hypotheses testing on brain function.
The Allen Brain Observatory, launched in 2016 and built by the Allen Institute for Brain Science (a BRAIN Initiative Alliance member), is the first standardized dataset of in vivo physiological activity in the mouse visual cortex, featuring representations of visually evoked calcium responses of single cells and populations. Through OpenScope and made possible by a BRAIN Initiative grant, use of the Observatory is now available to the entire neuroscience community. This will enable theoretical, computational, and experimental scientists to test sophisticated hypotheses on brain function, much like how astronomers use observatories to explore the night sky.
This opportunity is open to anyone not currently employed by the Allen Institute. Selected experimental proposals will be carried out by the Allen Institute, following verified, reproducible, and open protocols for in vivo single- and multi-area two-photon calcium imaging and Neuropixels electrophysiology. Data will be freely available to these scientists and to the community, thereby lowering barriers to sophisticated hypothesis testing, bringing new computational and theoretical talents into the field, and enhancing the reproducibility of results in brain research.
The next proposal deadline is November 22, 2021. To learn more, join the OpenScope Applicant Webinar on September 13, 2021, read the Allen Institute announcement, or view the call for OpenScope proposals.