Virtual Observatory of the Cortex

A BRAIN initiative funded U24 project to bring the IARPA MICrONS dataset to the scientific research community.

The MICrONS dataset is public and open access, ready for analysis! But manual edits to the segmentation (“proofreading”) continue to improve data quality. We provide expert proofreading as a service for, and directed by, the scientific community. We are funded to facilitate your scientific questions. Read on to find how!

The Virtual Observatory of the Cortex (VORTEX) program is a grant funded mechanism designed to assist you.

Scientific Request Form

Applications are currently closed. We will next open for formal project proposals for Year 4.

Next open call: September 2026

Previous Application Deadline: March 20, 2026

Current Project Period: April 2026 - October 2026

Upcoming Data Releases: June 2026, September 2026

Peruse our completed projects below and on the tutorial pages: Project Outcomes Year 1, Project Outcomes Year 2, Project Outcomes Year 3

If you are uncertain what proofreading you may need, consider scheduling a chat with Bethanny Danskin on the MICrONS Team (opens scheduler).

 

How it works

Is there an observation you could make from this dataset that would help you answer a scientific question, but you aren’t sure how to make it? Or maybe you know how to make it, but don’t have the time or resources to repair or annotate enough examples to answer your question.

The Virtual Observatory of the Cortex is a grant funded mechanism designed to assist you in precisely this situation. We provide the labor and experience to make corrections and annotations in the data. The results of these efforts will be integrated with an evolving version of the dataset, and shared with you and the larger scientific community.

We think of it as a metaphor for a large scale astronomy survey: we are providing the infrastructure and focusing mechanisms, the community is steering the observations to the spots of maximum interest, and everyone can see what comes out!

 

If you are uncertain what proofreading you want, or even if you need it, book a time with our scientists to discuss the best options for your scientific question:

A scientist at the Allen Institute will work with you on developing a plan that helps address the scientific question you are interested in, including any manual proofreading and annotation work that needs to be done.

Tip: if you have a general question about the accessing the data, try the MICrONS Tutorial.


Data Releases

Click to see Outcomes on MICrONS Tutorials

Data Sharing Policy

Data created by the Vortex project, such a proofreading and annotations, will be integrated into broader publicly available dataset for everyone to use. Proofreading updates the segmentation, which will be released along with any other changes that are part of the centralized dataset, no matter their source. Annotations will be made on the dataset and released as tables via the CAVEclient, and periodically as static file dumps available via google cloud. See the specific dataset pages for details on data access.

 

Current Efforts

Topic Task Status
Proximity metrics for pyramidal cell dendrites Analysis support Ongoing
Subcellular distribution of large secretory vesicles Annotation of dense core vesicles Ongoing
Neuromodulation at the blood-brain barrier Axon extenstion of putative neuromodulatory axons Ongoing
Neuron structure modeling, using skeletonized neurons Axon extension: pyramidal cells; Axon extension: inhibitory cells Ongoing
Microglia interaction at synapses Annotation of microglia lysosomes Ongoing
Uncovering local and long-range circuit organization Axon extension: pyramidal cells; Axon extension: inhibitory cells Ongoing
Connectomics of response heterogeneity in mouse visual cortex Axon extension of functionally recorded cells Ongoing
Design principles underlying astrocyte morphology Proofread 'cleaning' of astrocyte Ongoing
Connection between SST subtypes and pyramidal neurons Axon extension: inhibitory cells Ongoing
Dopaminergic projections to cortex Axon extenstion of putative neuromodulatory axons Ongoing



Previous Efforts

Topic Task Status
How does the orientation tuning of visual cortical neurons arise from the functional organization of inputs onto their dendritic tree? Axon extension of functionally recorded cells Complete: v1078 and v1300
How does neural computation arise from the combination of inputs along the dendritic tree? Axon extension of functionally recorded cells Complete: v1078 and v1300
To what extent do interareal cortical connections exhibit precise recurrent interactions, and are these connection probabilities governed by shared retinotopy? Axon extension of functionally recorded cells Complete: v1078 and v1300
What are the detailed connectivity properties of cortical PV basket cells? Annotation of parvalbumin interneurons Complete: v1078 and v1300
How does the connectivity pattern of SST/Chodl cells give rise to their physiological feature: synchronization of cortical states? Axon extension of putative Chodl cells Incomplete: pending putative Chodl cells
How do astrocytes interact with neurons, at multiple scales of organization and operation? Proofread 'cleaning' of astrocytes Complete: v1078
How does the presence of vasculature affect the distribution of electric charge due to an applied electric field (brain stimulation)? Analysis support Complete: v1078
What is the mechanism of electrical neuro-vasculature coupling, at the microscopic level? Analysis support Complete: v1078
Census of spinehead apparatus Annotation of pyramidal spine inputs Complete: v1300
OPC spacing and cilia orientation OPC proofreading and annotation Incomplete: pending resources
Myelin density in cortex Annotation of myelin Complete: v1300
Perivascular fibroblast Analysis support Complete
Local environment of spine synapses Annotation of pyramidal spine inputs Complete: v1300
Inhibitory-Excitatory connectivity motifs Axon extenstion of functionally coregistered cells Complete: v1300

VORTEX Contributions

Community Manager: Bethanny Danskin

Proofreading Management: Szi-chieh Yu, Celia David

Proofreading: Chi Zhang, Erika Neace, Rachael Swanstrom, Agnes Bodor, Mai Dumale, Elanur Acmad, Al-Mishrie Sahijuan, Joselito Astrologo, Arvin Caballes, Rey Cabasag, Jovie Cano, Jessi Deocampo, Emely Deresas, Mark Encallado, Mary Krestine Guzarem, Hannie Grace Hordillo, Logic Domme Ibanez, Angeline Libre, Geronimo Mon, Geomar Pagalan, Joren Paulines, Joshua Angel Remullo, Rezi Selgas,

Principal Investigators: Forrest Collman, Nuno Da Costa, R. Clay Reid, Casey Schneider-Mizell H. Sebastian Seung

NIH BRAIN Initiative: U24 NS120053