EyeWire

EyeWire is an online game for citizen scientists to map neurons in the retina. EyeWire was officially added on December 10, 2012, since the number of players has grown to more than 80,000 people from more than 130 countries. The game is a project of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is based on scanning electron microscope data, provided by the Max - Planck - Institute for Medical Research.

Project

The idea for EyeWire comes from a group of young neuroscientists and computer scientists at MIT under the direction of Sebastian Seung. These have the game design, data infrastructure and analysis algorithms as well as support the community implemented conceptually and practically. EyeWire was originally supported by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Max Planck Society. Currently, the project receives financial support from the National Institutes of Health.

Objectives

The objectives are EyeWire to identify certain cell types within the known classes of retinal cells and to determine the three dimensional connections between the neurons in the retina.

• The first immediate objective is to reconstruct the three-dimensional shapes of retinal neurons from two-dimensional images.
• The second objective is to determine the synapses, to clarify the connections between the associated neurons.
• The main goal is to determine the relationship of these neurons with their known activity.

EyeWire is part of a larger project called WiredDifferently, whose aim is to show that the pattern of neuron connections or the Konnektom each person is unique. As Konnektom (English Connectome ) is defined as the totality of the compounds in the nervous system of an animal. This is to map current research topic of human Connectome Project. Similar brain mapping projects are the Human Brain Project of the EU and the U.S. Department of Brain Activity Map Project.

Game History

• First jointly with EyeWire mapped neurons History
• Animation with increasing detail

Before the game begins, each player is given a new introduction, in the practical course of the game is explained. 2D scans of the retina to be measured mouse are stacked within a 3D cube. The player gets assigned a cube of artificial intelligence and helps in labeling of neurons gradients. As he moved back and herscrollt inside the cube between scans, it can sift or select the neurons course.

From this, the program calculates the 3D course of the neurons. When the player has finished the selection, the result is sent to the server. There calculates the artificial intelligence with the help of 5-25 same and already sighted by other players dice the final neurons course. After completion of this examination, the player gets, depending on the quality of its markings points that are recorded in a high-score list. There are daily, weekly and monthly high score lists in which the players can compete.