MARMOSET BRAIN ARCHITECTURE

The goal of the Marmoset Brain Connects project is to obtain the first brain-wide mesoscale connectivity map of a non-human primate, the common marmoset (Callithrix Jacchus), by tracing uniquely barcoded single axons across the brain, with transcriptome defined cell-type specificity. Such a data set will have profound scientific significance, comparable to the first whole genome map of a primate. As genomes encode the blueprint for an organism’s phenotype, so does the architecture of brain circuitry contain the blueprint of an animal’s behavior and holds the key to many open questions in neuroscience. In addition, the scalable technology platform developed in this project will be applicable to other species beyond the marmoset, and the web-first methodology we utilize to visualize, annotate, and proofread the reconstructed neurons and explore the resulting connectivity matrix, will permit close community engagement and utilization of the resource by scientists from a broad spectrum of disciplines.