QJScience: Neuroscience meets videogame

A new website created by the Seung Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) allows anyone, from any background, to become fulfill their dream of becoming a neuroscientist.

The website — www.eyewire.org — is set up much like a computer game. After creating an account, players begin with the tutorial stage. After finishing the tutorial, they unlock the rest of the game, which comes complete with a multiplayer mode and the ability to chat with other players.

Playing the game is relatively simple — players colour in their assigned neuron in a “colour-by-numbers” fashion and track it from one side of a 4.5 micron-wide cube to the other. The unique feature about this computer game is that by colouring in the neuron, players are actually helping to map the neural connections in the human brain, known collectively as the “connectome.”

Leading the project is Dr. Sebastien Seung, a professor of computational neuroscience at MIT. Along with the other members of his lab, he is testing the idea that individual qualities like memory or personality are not the product of one’s genes, but the product of one’s connectome.

For example, though identical twins’ genes are more or less identical, they typically have different personalities and memories. Following Dr. Seung’s hypothesis, different experiences in life cause different connections to be made in their brains. The result is two unique connectomes, and two unique, albeit very similar-looking, individuals.

So far, the only connectome to have been completely mapped is that of the roundworm C. elegans. That being said, its nervous system consists of only 300 neurons. The human brain contains around 100 billion neurons, with 10,000 times as many connections between them. Mapping the intricate spider web of these neurons is such a massive undertaking that one lab simply could not accomplish it in any meaningful timeframe. To speed up the process, the Seung Lab has turned to citizen science — a term that refers to scientific research conducted by amateur scientists, who may or may not have any background in the field.

By allowing the public open access to their brain scans, the Seung Lab now has over 100,000 amateur neuroscientists from around the world helping with their project.

At this point, the project is progressing towards mapping all connections between neurons in the retina, one 4.5 micron cube at a time. The primary goal is to understand how neurons connect and work together to process information. On a larger scale, the information gained from this project will be used in the development of advanced artificial technology and other technologies to map the connectome.

The next time you find yourself scrolling aimlessly through your Facebook newsfeed, consider taking up neurology. It’s as easy as colouring by numbers.

Tags

eyewire, neuroscience, QJScience

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