NeurotechEU dimension 5: Neuroinformatics

The aim of neuroinformatics is to better understand how the brain works, how it processes information, and how various brain regions and networks are connected. It also plays a crucial role in advancing research on brain disorders, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, by providing the computational methods and infrastructure necessary to analyze complex data from both healthy and diseased brains. In essence, neuroinformatics helps scientists make sense of the massive amounts of data generated by modern neuroscience research and translate it into meaningful insights.

The Allen Institute has (with financial support of Brain Initiative) made available many whole brain data sets together with the neurinformatics tools to access them properly, without which the data itself would be essentially useless. Data and tools have been developed within this field and it has become one of the most extensively used collections, not only by neuroscientists, but also students and course instructors. The need for these type of collections will only increase, as it is essential to support translational neuroscience research developing mechanistic understanding of neuropsychiatric diseases and thereby new therapies.  

A large amount of funding goes to projects/consortia developing or implementing new experimental techniques and subsequently using them to collect massive amount of data. It is essential that at its core there is also a proper infrastructure for curation and sharing of data. Datasharing is now also considered a core mission of large neuroscience institutes, such as, for instance, the Donders, which is using the Donders Repository to bring research data of published papers to other researchers. Sharing and curation is only possible if there are standards to secure interoperability, which is key focus of neuroinformatics organizations like the INCF.

8 Dimensions of NeurotechEU

The eight dimensions of NeurotechEU cover a wide range of topics, from advancing research and treatments to addressing ethical questions related to how technology interacts with the brain, with the objective of creating a bridge between several disciplines. These dimensions aim to tackle what the Alliance identifies as “neurochallenges” – issues that require multidisciplinary approaches at the intersection of neuroscience and neurotechnology.

• Empirical and Clinical Neuroscience: Investigating brain function and developing treatments for neurological disorders.
• Theoretical Neuroscience: Using computational models to explain and predict brain activity.
• Neuromorphic Computing: Designing computer systems inspired by the brain to enhance efficiency.
• Neuromorphic Control and Neurorobotics: Creating robots capable of adapting and moving like living beings.
• Neuroinformatics: Building tools to manage and analyze large-scale brain data.
• Neuroprosthetics: Developing devices to interface with the brain, restoring or augmenting its functions.
• Clinical Neurotechnology: Applying digital systems for real-time monitoring and treatment of brain conditions.
• Neurometaphysics: Exploring ethical, legal, and philosophical issues surrounding the use of neurotechnology.