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BrainNavigator helps you view the brain like never before
What's the most complicated structure known to man? Yes, you guessed it: the human brain.
An adult human brain weighs about three
pounds, while a rat brain weighs about two
grams. Though these brains differ vastly in
size, their structures are very similar. As
they work daily to understand the brain,
truly a marvel of nature, neuroscientists
often study brains of rats and other species.
With more than a thousand structures to
navigate, it's easy to get lost in the brain —
no matter what its size.
To aid in their daily research, neuroscientists can use
BrainNavigator to get three-dimensional views of brain
structures. Find more details at www.brainnav.com/info.
To help busy scientists advance and streamline their research, Elsevier has created BrainNavigator, an online, interactive, 3D software tool that saves time while improving the quality of daily research. Similar to the way GPS helps locate a position in the world, BrainNavigator can locate the position of structures within the brain, making visualization and understanding of the brain easier.
Historically, researchers have depended on large format print atlases to help with tasks like placing a probe or identifying structures when viewing slices of brain tissue under a microscope. Now, thanks to BrainNavigator, researchers can visualize the brain not only as a flatmap on a page, but also as an object with depth —and they have the ability to control the views in ways suiting their needs.
Developing a newapproach to brain maps
To start the BrainNavigator development process, Elsevier employed its User Centered Design experts to connect with neuroscientists to evaluate and fully understand their needs in the course of a workday. This process revealed that neuroscience ismore than ready for this tool.
Neuroscientists indicated a need for an easy-to-use online system that would allow them to browse, compare and label high-resolution material. Additionally, they need a way to upload their own images for comparison and to annotate and share their research with colleagues. Another high-level need is the ability to view the brain in three dimensions, while retaining the ability to easily view brain structures. Online delivery is key because it provides anytime, anywhere access and immediately available updates enabling fast, easy and accurate research.
Elsevier recognized that excellent brainmap technology had been developed by the Allen Institute for Brain Science. A collaboration began, pairing Elsevier's vast neuroscience content — including information from many books and journals — with the Allen Institute's cutting-edge Brain Explorer® technology, and BrainNavigator was the result.
A dynamic new resource of unique importance and usefulness to the many tens of thousands of brain researchers worldwide who rely on scholarly information every day, BrainNavigator represents a promising step towards additional discoveries in the advancement of brain research. Offering both free and subscription-based content, BrainNavigator provides the ability for all users to browse images and brain structures. Paid subscribers can enjoy using high-resolution images as well as the ability to annotate and save their work. They also can share their work with colleagues globally.
Getting positive reviews
During development of BrainNavigator, 50 researchers from universities and research institutes worldwide participated as test users and provided feedback regarding the product's usability and content. Claudia Farb, a BrainNavigator test user from the Center for Neural Science at New York University, commented: "I love the speed and accuracy with which I can find a specific brain structure. By simply typing the name of the structure, the program directs me to it and highlights it so I can rapidly and easily find the structure. This feature is very convenient for research and absolutely wonderful for teaching because it reduces student frustration when trying to identify specific brain structures, fosters student autonomy and reduces the need for instructor assistance in the classroom and lab."
Farb further commented: "I appreciate the feature that highlights the brain structure and depicts it in 3D. This helps students translate anatomical ‘book' information to a more comprehensive understanding of how the brain works. For example, specific groups of cells located at the back of the brain have widespread projections to the rest of the brain. Understanding the relations of these groups of cells to other brain structures is facilitated by the ability to view the brain in 3D."
Many media outlets, including NPR (National Public Radio in the US), have covered BrainNavigator. To listen to the NPR "All Things Considered" program which in November 2008 featured an interview focusing on BrainNavigator, click on the NPR logo at www.brainnav.com/info.
Moving forward
In its first rollout in May 2009, BrainNavigator includes complete information for the rat brain and mouse brain. Later, BrainNavigator will also include the human and monkey brains.
For more information, please visit the
BrainNavigator website or contact your
Elsevier representative. 
www.brainnav.com/info
http://contacts.elsevier.com
