EMBER — Ecosystem for Multi-modal Brain-behavior Experimentation and Research
Overview
EMBER is the official data archive for the NIH BRAIN Initiative’s Brain Behavior Quantification and Synchronization (BBQS) Programme, designed to store and provide access to multimodal neurophysiological and behavioural datasets. Developed by a team from JHU/APL, UCLA, UPenn, Dartmouth (Center for Open Neuroscience), and MIT, EMBER extends BRAIN Initiative data infrastructure built around DANDI Archive and supports the BBQS programme’s goal of linking precise brain recordings with temporally dense behavioural measurements. Data is stored via the AWS Open Data Programme and indexed through a search portal at ember-search.org. EMBER uses NWB for neurophysiology data and BIDS for dataset organisation.
Relationship to DANDI
EMBER is operationally distinct from DANDI Archive but uses DANDI as its underlying storage infrastructure. Where DANDI is the general-purpose open archive for NWB-formatted neurophysiology data, EMBER provides a domain-specific curation and access layer for BBQS-funded multimodal brain-behaviour studies. Datasets archived in EMBER are discoverable through the EMBER search portal and through DANDI.
Connections
- fundedBy: NIH BRAIN Initiative
- implements: NWB
- implements: BIDS
- relatedTo: DANDI Archive (uses DANDI as storage infrastructure with datasets discoverable through both portals)
- relatedTo: Center for Open Neuroscience (Dartmouth/CON is a co-developing institution)
Resources
- https://emberarchive.org
- https://ember-search.org (dataset search portal)
- https://github.com/aplbrain/BBQS-EMBER-Data-Model (data model specification)