Successfully discovering new types of neurons by crowdsourcing brain mapping to gamers

Researchers at Princeton University, with the help of 250,000 gamers with crowdsourcing,Brain function mappingAs a result, six new types of neurons (Nerve cell) Was discovered successfully.

Princeton researchers crowdsource brain mapping with gamers, discover six new neuron types
https://www.princeton.edu/news/2018/05/17/princeton-researchers-crowdsource-brain-mapping-gamers-discover-six-new-neuron

The game used in the research is a 3D puzzle game announced in 2012 "EyeWire"is. 265,000 played and solved over 10 million 3D puzzles before the article was created, and as a result, mapping more than 3000 neurons succeeded.

EyeWire can play from the following site.

Explore | EyeWire


The puzzle which the player deciphers with EyeWire is cube-shaped. This cube is a finer decomposition of a single cell, which is a small size of 4.5 microns on a side. According to Amy Robinson Sterling who is involved in the study, each cell is mapped by about 5 to 25 players solving cube puzzles, "According to the initial stage, one cell is finished It took several weeks to go. " However, after completion of the game as a game gradually gained gradually by improving the game environment, addition of result compensation and loading of chat function etc., we have gained popularity enough for users to play more than 30 hours a week , It seems that the time taken for brain map creation has been shortened.


From the data obtained by playing such EyeWire, Professor Sebastian Seung who is active in the field of neuroscience and computer science, interactive archive of neurons that can be used by researchers and general people involved in brain research "EyeWire Museum"is created.

Graduate student Alexander Bee, who was involved in the development of the EyeWire Museum said, "This museum (EyeWire Museum) is like a map of the brain.The past brain maps include individual cells and subset of cells visually There was no function to convert or interact with them, but the EyeWire Museum data has not only individual cell morphological information but also functional data, "said EyeWire Museum, I talk about usefulness.

EyeWire Museum


According to researchers, hundreds of billions of neurons are connected, and the brain seems to be immeasurally complicated. And it is pointed out that brain research by neuroscientists is like a stage of building a parts list in a complicated structure. Nicholas Turner, one of the co-founder of EyeWire, says, "Knowing what parts parts are trying to destroy will also help you to understand how it works "I say.

The study using EyeWire started with the investigation of the retina of the experimental mouse, "The retina is not just managing light,Retinal ganglion cell"It is the first stage of visual perception," says Professor Sun. The retina grows from the same embryonic tissue as the brain, so it has a surprisingly complicated structure, but it has a much simpler structure than the brain. For this reason, retinal ganglion cells and so on have been thought to be simple structures, but research using EyeWire has revealed its recognition, gives us a great opportunity to unravel about complex structures and roles It seems to be. For the reasons why retinal ganglion cells are being investigated, the research team says "retinal ganglion cells are the only cells that connect the retina and the brain and return to the brain".

In the research, we succeeded in finely classifying cells by using 396 ganglion cell maps created by EyeWire. Although it was thought that there are only about 15 to 20 kinds of ganglion cell so far, it has been thought that there are more than 35 types of surveys using EyeWire, six of which are new kind of neurons It is done.

Mr. Mara Feller, a professor of molecular biology and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, who is also a professor of the Neurobiology Department of the Helen Virus Neuroscience Institute, said, "The relationship between neuron structure and function Establishing is a major goal for neurobiologists, but neurons are too small to be perceived by the human eye or optical microscope, but reconstructing the same kind of adjacent neurons in the retina with EyeWire I will be able to investigate the spatial relationship of these neurons, "praised the study.