A brain imaging database of rare and endangered Australian mammals.
This project will implement the concept of a comprehensive national brain and skull image database of extant and extinct Australian native mammals and birds. Eventually this national e-Research collection is expected to include high quality data of brains from most of Australia’s unique fauna and will allow data-mining for qualitative and quantitative comparisons across multiple species and exemplars.
Start date
3 June 2019
Expected completion date
21 October 2019
Investment by ARDC
$49,999
Co-investment partners
Lead node

1
Metadata framework
Implementation of a metadata framework for the specific needs of volumetric brain in animal specimens.
2
Database
Implementation of a database for brains and skulls of a sub-collection of Australian endemic species.
3
Specification document for metadata
Specification document for metadata to describe imaging data of animal brain and skull specimens, specifically data descriptors for complex MRI datasets.
4
POC database
Extensible POC database with fully curated and metadata furnished MRI and CT data of brain and skull specimens from rare and endangered Australian animals.
5
Completion of project
Project outcomes will be presented at an ARDC Data and Services Summit in October 2019.
Core features

Establishment of a metadata framework
Establishment of a metadata framework to fully describe complex MRI and CT datasets from brain specimens.

Metadata database
Implementation of a database for metadata furnished brain and skull image volumes of adult and developing Australian marsupials and monotremes.
Who is this project for?
- Neuroscience researchers
- Museum and conservation societies
What does this project enable?
- Digital preservation and discovery of animal tissues
- Support comparative brain studies from the neuroscience community
Handy resources
- FAIR assessment [PDF 160KB]
- Final Report [PDF 229KB]
- Presentation [PDF 794KB]
- Atlas of Living Australia
- Human brain connectome project