User Driven Software Development

Mary RavenReese Laboratory

Neuroscience Research InstituteUniversity of California, Santa Barbara

Spatial analyses

• Quantitative methods to measure– Dispersion– Clustering– Regularity

Delaunay TriangulationGiven a set of data points in 2D, the Delaunay triangulation is defined as a set of lines (the Delaunay segments) connecting each point to its natural neighbors.

Near NeighborsA single point will have some variable number of natural neighbors, one of them being the shortest (or nearest) neighbor.

Voronoi TessellationVoronoi tessellation describes the division of space by proximity to each point – space in the field closer to a given point than to any of its neighbors defines the Voronoi domain of that point.

AutocorrelationThe spatial plot of the position of each point in a field relative to every other point is the autocorrelation.

• Many populations in the nervous system are spaced in 3D.

• These 2D spatial analyses can be extended into 3D

3D Spatial Analyses

Data visualization for users

• 2D visualizations do not translate directly into meaningful 3D visualizations.

• Methods to represent 3D spatial analyses– Interactive rotations– Planer projections– False color plots– Additional dimensional histograms

3D perspective2D projection viewsDmin Simulation Degraded Lattice Simulation

Dmin Simulation Degraded Lattice Simulation

Dmin Simulation Degraded Lattice Simulation

Degraded Lattice SimulationDmin Simulation

Spatial Analysis 3D

• Software tools with analyses and visualization options for users.

• Enables the users to analyze and interpret neuronal spatial patterning in 3D

• These tools can be used to investigate developmental and disease related patterning.

UCSB:Benjamin Reese – Principal Investigator

National Institute of Mental Health

National Eye Institute

Irene WhitneyDan Lofgreen

University of Cambridge:Stephen Eglen

Acknowledgements