Neuroscience Databases A Practical Guide

Neuroscience Databases: A Practical Guide is the first book providing a comprehensive overview of these increasingly important databases. This volume makes the results of the Human Genome Project and other recent large-scale initiatives in the neurosciences available to a wider community. It extends the scope of bioinformatics from the molecular to the cellular, microcircuitry and systems levels, dealing for the first time with complex neuroscientific issues and leading the way to a new culture of data sharing and data mining necessary to successfully tackle neuroscience questions.
Aimed at the novice user who wants to access the data, it provides clear and concise instructions on how to download the available data sets and how to use the software with a minimum of technical detail with most chapters written by the database creators themselves.
Key databases and topics include:

-Neuroinformatics for C. Elegans;
-Gene Expression Patterns;
-Functional Analyses of Olfactory Receptors
-Protein-Protein Interactions;
-Web-Based Neuronal Archives;
-Neuronal and Network Modeling;
-Storage and Retrieval of Experimental Data for Biophysically Realistic Modeling;
-Analysis of Spike Trains;
-Neural Connectivity Patterns;
-Software Tools for Neuroimaging;
-Data Management, Inspection and Sharing.

Contributors. Acknowledgements. Preface. 1. Neuroinformatics for C. elegans: Relating Mind and Body in Wormbase; Nansheng Chen, et al. 2. A Gene Expression Map of the Mouse Brain. Genepaint.org - A Database of Gene Expression Patterns; A. Visel, et al. 3. Databases for the Functional Analyses of Olfactory Receptors; C.J. Crasto, et al. 4. Construction of a Protein-Protein Interaction Database (PPID) for Synaptic Biology; H. Husi, S.G.N. Grant. 5. Modeling the Dynamics of Second Messenger Pathways; K.T. Blackwell, J.H. Kotaleski. 6. Web-Based Neuronal Archives. Neuronal Morphometric and Electrotonic Analysis; D.A. Turner, et al. 7. ModelDB: A Resource for Neuronal and Network Modeling; A.P. Davison, et al. 8. CoCoDat: Collation of Cortical Data on Neurons and Microcircuitry. Systematic Storage and Retrieval of Experimental Data for Biophysically Realistic Modeling; J.D. Johnsen, et al. 9. Computer Models and Analysis Tools for Neural Microcircuits; T. Natschläger, et al. 10. A Practical Guide to Information Analysis of Spike Trains; G. Pola, et al. 11. An Introduction to CoCoMac-Online. The Online-Interface of the Primate Connectivity Database CoCoMac; L. Kamper, et al. 12. Graph Theory Methods for the Analysis of Neural Connectivity Patterns; O. Sporns. 13. The PUPS-MOSIX Environment: A Homeostatic Environment for Neuro- and Bio-informatic Applications; M.A. O'Neill, et al. 14. The NeuroHomology Database: An Online-KMS for Handling and Evaluation of the Neurobiological Information; M. Bota, M.A. Arbib. 15. The fMRI Data Center: Software Tools for Neuroimaging Data Management,Inspection, and Sharing; J.D. Van Horn, et al. 16. Statistical Parametric Mapping; K.J. Friston. 17. The Brain Positioning Software; V. Schmitt, et al. 18. BrainInfo. An Online Interactive Brain Atlas and Nomenclature; D.M. Bowden, M. Dubach. 19. Federation of Brain Data through Knowledge-guided Mediation; M.E. Martone, et al. 20. Facilitating Data and Software Sharing in the Neurosciences &endash; A Neuroinformatics Portal; R. Ritz, et al. Index.

Rolf Kötter is a staff member at the Dept. of Anatomy II and Leader of the Computational Systems Neuroscience Group at the C. & O. Vogt Brain Research Institute, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.