BAMS 2: a new workbench for construction and visualization of connectomes

BAMS 2 (http://brancusi1.usc.edu/) is the redesign and improvement of the classical Brain Architecture Management System (BAMS; http://brancusi.usc.edu/bkms) by applying semantic web technologies to neuroscience datasets. It includes descriptions of about 10,000 nervous system parts defined in more than 30 neuroanatomical nomenclatures and 5 mammalian species, and the searchable form of BAMS Thesaurus (version 1.0). BAMS 2 also includes a new Personal Workspace module that allows individual users to define their personal neuroanatomical nomenclatures, and construct their personal connectomes from experimental tract tracing data.

We will show the advantages of using BAMS 2 web accessible tools, demonstrate the flexible schema through user-defined nomenclatures, and present a browser based interface for personal connectome construction and visualization.