Launching of EyeWire, the Game to Map the Brain

In the early twenty-first century [...] neuroscience has turned into “big science” and increasingly into a science of “big data” [...] that has even opened itself to crowdsourcing and citizen participation.

Vidal, Fernando and Ortega, Francisco. Being Brains: Making the Cerebral Subject (Forms of Living) (...

See for example EyeWire, “a citizen science project aimed at mapping the neural connections of the retina,” launched by a professor of computational neuroscience at MIT.

At the Sci Starter site, this is how the Project is described:

Based in the Seung Computational Neuroscience Lab at Princeton University, Eyewire investigators are solving the mysteries of the brain with the help of the public. Over 225,000 people around the world have played what has been called a “3D neuroscience coloring book” — a puzzle game anyone can play without having any knowledge or experience in the field of neuroscience.

Eyewire researchers aim to eventually map the human brain, but for now they are starting with the retina. Players map the connections between retinal neurons, helping researchers understand how neurons process information. Players have already helped researchers understand how a mammal can detect motion, which has remained a mystery — until now. Eyewire researchers hope their work can lead to advances in blindness therapies, the development of retinal prosthestics, and other benefits.

Learn more about the game on the link below:

About EyeWire

Play EyeWire