OSB — Open Source Brain

Overview

Open Source Brain (OSB) is a web platform for sharing, visualising, and collaboratively developing standardised computational models of neurons and circuits. Developed at University College London and funded by the Wellcome Trust, it addresses the reproducibility and reuse limitations of traditional model databases by hosting evolving, collaboratively maintained models in simulator-independent formats rather than frozen publication snapshots. The current OSBv2 platform extends beyond OSBv1’s focus on NeuroML model visualisation to integrate experimental data directly alongside models, linking repositories from DANDI Archive and other sources to close the loop between data and simulation. OSBv2 provides cloud-based workspaces with pre-installed applications including NetPyNE for network model development, NWB Explorer for exploring NWB-formatted experimental recordings, and JupyterLab for custom analysis.

Connections

• implements: NeuroML (OSB uses NeuroML as its primary simulator-independent model description language; the OSBv1 3D visualisation and browser simulation infrastructure is built around NeuroML model structures)
• accepts: NWB (OSBv2 integrates NWB Explorer as a core application and ingests NWB-formatted experimental data for analysis alongside computational models)
• relatedTo: DANDI Archive (OSBv2 repositories link directly to DANDI Archive, enabling NWB experimental datasets to be opened and analysed in OSB workspaces)
• relatedTo: ModelDB (OSB links to ModelDB for previous published model versions; the two are complementary — ModelDB archives publication snapshots while OSB hosts collaboratively evolving models)

Resources

• https://www.opensourcebrain.org
• https://v2.opensourcebrain.org
• https://docs.opensourcebrain.org
• https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2019.05.019 (Gleeson et al. 2019, Neuron — platform description)