Abstract
Collaboration in neuroscience is impeded by the difficulty of sharing primary data, results, and software across labs. Here we introduce Neuroscience Data Interface (NDI), a platform-independent standard that allows an analyst to use and create software that functions independently from the format of the raw data or the manner in which the data is organized into files. The interface is rooted in a simple vocabulary that describes common apparatus and storage devices used in neuroscience experiments. Results of analyses – and analyses of analyses – are stored as documents in a scalable, queryable database that stores the relationships and history among the experiment elements and documents. The interface allows the development of an application ecosystem where applications can focus on calculation rather than data format or organization. This tool can be used by individual labs to exchange and analyze data, and it can serve to curate neuroscience data for searchable archives.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Contributions: SDV, ZW, DGM, and OP designed the system, with input from all authors. OP and SDV obtained funding. SDV, ZW, DGM, YZ, SC, and SquishyMedia wrote the code. SDV wrote the paper with input from all authors.
