The Digital Brain Bank, an open access platform for post-mortem imaging datasets.

Abstract

Post-mortem magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides the opportunity to acquire high-resolution datasets to investigate neuroanatomy and validate the origins of image contrast through microscopy comparisons. We introduce the <i>Digital Brain Bank</i> (open.win.ox.ac.uk/DigitalBrainBank), a data release platform providing open access to curated, multimodal post-mortem neuroimaging datasets. Datasets span three themes<i>-Digital Neuroanatomist</i>: datasets for detailed neuroanatomical investigations; <i>Digital Brain Zoo</i>: datasets for comparative neuroanatomy; and <i>Digital Pathologist</i>: datasets for neuropathology investigations. The first <i>Digital Brain Bank</i> data release includes 21 distinctive whole-brain diffusion MRI datasets for structural connectivity investigations, alongside microscopy and complementary MRI modalities. This includes one of the highest-resolution whole-brain human diffusion MRI datasets ever acquired, whole-brain diffusion MRI in fourteen nonhuman primate species, and one of the largest post-mortem whole-brain cohort imaging studies in neurodegeneration. The <i>Digital Brain Bank</i> is the culmination of our lab's investment into post-mortem MRI methodology and MRI-microscopy analysis techniques. This manuscript provides a detailed overview of our work with post-mortem imaging to date, including the development of diffusion MRI methods to image large post-mortem samples, including whole, human brains. Taken together, the <i>Digital Brain Bank</i> provides cross-scale, cross-species datasets facilitating the incorporation of post-mortem data into neuroimaging studies.