The Allen Institute’s OpenScope program allows scientists to study various aspects of the brain, such as the effects of magic mushrooms on neurons, the influence of past memories on present perceptions, and the brain’s interpretation of motion and texture. Neuroscientist Jerome Lecoq is enthusiastic about an upcoming experiment that aims to explore how sensory data is processed to affect consciousness and possibly behavior. The experiment is being refined through an open-source process online, allowing researchers worldwide to contribute ideas and suggestions for the study. Lecoq invites interested parties to follow updates on Twitter and view the working document to be discussed at an upcoming conference in Boston.
The Allen Institute’s Brain Observatory utilizes advanced tools to study how thousands of neurons in the mouse brain respond to various stimuli, with a focus on the visual system. The organization seeks research proposals from external sources each year to take advantage of the observatory’s resources, following a model similar to that used for research time reservation on space telescopes and particle accelerators. The experiments conducted are supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, and data collected is made available to the broad scientific community for further analysis and research.
This year’s OpenScope program includes a unique crowdsourcing element to the research process, focusing on a theory known as predictive coding. This theory proposes that the brain constantly generates and updates a mental model of the environment, processing sensory inputs to identify and correct errors in the model. Researchers are collaborating online to outline potential experiments to determine where in the brain the error-calculation process takes place. Among the selected experiments, the program will also investigate the effects of psilocybin on neuron activity, analyze brain reactions to changes over time, study motion perception in the brain, and explore how different textures are recognized through sight alone.
The experiment involving psilocybin aims to provide insights into the mechanisms underlying perception, cognition, and consciousness, potentially leading to the development of more targeted therapeutic substances. Other projects will investigate how the brain’s visual system reacts to changes over time, how it processes moving objects, and how it identifies textures visually. The overall goal is to enhance understanding of brain function and the neural processes related to sensory perception and cognition, which could contribute to advancements in treating various neurological conditions.
Jerome Lecoq, along with Christof Koch, co-leads the OpenScope program, focusing on advancing the understanding of the brain through data acquisition and sharing. By empowering individual labs to leverage the program for unique scientific pursuits, OpenScope embodies an open-science approach championed by Paul Allen over a decade ago. Lecoq envisions this collaborative model as the future of neuroscience, emphasizing global sharing and enhanced research opportunities enabled by the program. The success of OpenScope demonstrates a new paradigm for neuroscience research, bridging the gap between individual labs and fostering a community-driven approach to understanding the complexities of the brain.
