RESEARCH PLAN

Principal Investigator/Program Director Williams, Robert W.

Our goal in creating the MBL is to provide a high-quality repository of information useful for researchers wishing to examine the genetic basis of normal variation of mouse brain structure. As it is currently constructed, the MBL can be used for gross neuroanatomical measures (e.g., total forebrain volume) and for gross comparison between strains of mice. We currently have higher-resolution images (4.5 µm/pixel) available for approximately 20% of the cases, which can be used for a finer level of analysis. That being said, there are several obvious ways to extend the MBL and to improve the ease of access to this collection. We need to expand the numbers of animals in the MBL to increase the power of the statistical analysis, and we need to provide images with higher resolution in order to widen the range of questions that can be addressed. The underlying database structure needs to be revamped to better reflect the type of information being stored. Finally, we are adding a wealth of new features to the MBL (see Projects 2, 3, and 4) that must be completely integrated and easily accessible.

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Experimental Plan: 1. Extend the MBL