Press WA, Olshausen BA, Van Essen DC (2001) A Graphical Anatomical
Database of Neural Connectivity. Philosophical Transactions of
the Royal Society, London, B, 356, 1147-1157. (pdf)
We describe a graphical anatomical database program, called XANAT (so named
because it was developed under the X window system in UNIX), that allows
the results of numerous studies on neuro-anatomical connections to be stored,
compared and analysed in a standardized format. Data are entered into the
database by drawing injection and label sites from a particular tracer
study directly onto canonical representations of the neuroanatomical structures
of interest, along with providing descriptive text information. Searches
may then be performed on the data by querying the database graphically,
for example by specifying a region of interest within the brain for which
connectivity information is desired, or via text information, such as keywords
describing a particular brain region, or an author name or reference. Analyses
may also be performed by accumulating data across multiple studies and
displaying a colour-coded map that graphically represents the total evidence
for connectivity between regions. Thus, data may be studied and compared
free of areal boundaries (which often vary from one laboratory to the next),
and instead with respect to standard landmarks, such as the position relative
to well-known neuro-anatomical substrates or stereotaxic coordinates. If
desired, areal boundaries may also be de¢ned by the user to facilitate
the interpretation of results. We demonstrate the application of the database
to the analysis of pulvinar^cortical connections in the macaque monkey,
for which the results of over 120 neuro-anatomical experiments were entered
into the database. We show how these techniques can be used to elucidate
connectivity trends and patterns that may otherwise go unnoticed.