Jan Bjaalie and Viktor Jirsa talk data and brain simulation with forskning.no

Bjaalie and Jirsa spoke to journalist Georg Mathisen about the EBRAINS research infrastructure, with an emphasis on its tools and services for data sharing.

Bjaalie emphasized the benefits of data sharing: “(It) makes the research easier to interpret and more transparent, and it should save duplication of work.” He highlighted the range of data available on EBRAINS, as well as the infrastructure’s commitment to making data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). “There are several different services that offer data sharing,” said Bjaalie. “But there is no similar service that potentially encompasses all types of neuroresearch and that also curates the information on its way in.”

Jirsa spoke about the ongoing EPINOV clinical trial (Improving Epilepsy surgery management and progNOsis using Virtual brain technology) which uses The Virtual Brain (TVB), a simulation tool available on EBRAINS. TVB enables clinicians to simulate the spread of abnormal activity during epileptic seizures in a patient’s brain, helping them to better identify target areas for surgery. “The low success rate (in epilepsy surgery) has largely been the same for 30 years. We hope that what we do can finally improve the odds for the patients,” said Jirsa.

Read 'Brain researchers avoid double work when they share data' in Norwegian in forskning.no