Download A Data Mining Survey of the Allen Brain Atlas

Neuromodulatory Connectivity: A Data Mining Survey of the Allen Brain Atlas
Andrew Zaldivar
Mentor: Jeffrey Krichmar
Neuromodulatory systems are structures located in the sub-cortical region of the brain composed of neurons
(on the order of 1,000 in a mouse and 10,000 in a human per system) that control fundamental behaviors by
interacting with many areas of the brain, including the amygdala, hippocampus, and frontal cortex. When a
biological organism experiences an important event in the environment, the activation of the
neuromodulatory system contributes to the organism’s ability to commit an action accordingly. These actions
include mitigating responses to risks, rewards, attentional effort, and novelty. Thus, it is important to
understand the underlying structure of these neuromodulatory systems as it plays a role in higher-order
cognition and in an organism’s survival. In this project, an exploratory data mining survey of a recent digital
anatomical database called the Allen Mouse Brain Atlas has been conducted to reveal a detailed analysis of
these neuromodulatory systems. The Allen Mouse Brain Atlas is an interactive, genome-wide image database
of gene expression. A combination of RNA in situ hybridization data, detailed Reference Atlases and
informatics analysis tools are integrated to provide a searchable digital atlas of gene expression. Together,
these resources present a comprehensive online platform for exploration of the brain at the cellular and
molecular level. In particular, this project investigates the gene expression of serotonin, acetylcholine,
dopamine, and norepinephrine receptors. Since the sources of these neuromodulators are localized to specific
regions of the nervous system, the receptor locations represent the destination of projections from these
neuromodulatory systems. The results of this analysis have been transformed into a connectivity matrix that
can contribute to understanding how neuromodulatory systems interact with each other, as well as with
different brain regions.