The brain is a complex organism and requires powerful computational models, vast data sets and a network of infrastructure to manage, share and preserve scientific information. The Rotman Research Institute (RRI) has a long history of studying the brain as a network of connections that is best understood by looking at how its parts operate together. By focusing on the brain as an “orchestra” rather than as a collection of individual “players,” we are better able to model its working flow, to see in real-time how the brain conducts itself and how it manages to be more than a sum of its parts. Neuroinformatics allows us to do these things by combining neuroscience and powerful information processing.
In the era of “open science,” the work that we and other institutes produce can be magnified and multiplied by making data, software and computational tools open and accessible to the scientific community at large. By making our research data and tools available to the world, we can vastly amplify the impact of our work and catalyze new discoveries and innovations all over the world. Today, the data from a research study conducted at Baycrest can be shared with researchers in Thailand, New Zealand or Israel in a matter of minutes.