cerebroViz

cerebroViz maps gene expression and other region-quantifiable datasets onto vector graphic diagrams of the human brain to visualize spatiotemporal patterns across human development and adulthood using an R package.

Key Features:

• Spatiotemporal Mapping: Maps gene expression data across developmental stages from early fetal stages through adulthood onto vector graphic brain diagrams.
• Brain-region Coverage: Supports visualization across up to thirty distinct brain regions.
• Database Integration: Integrates datasets from BrainSpan, GTEx, and Roadmap Epigenomics for region-level analyses.
• Publication-quality Output: Produces vector-based figures intended for publication-quality visualization.
• Generalizability: Applicable to any dataset quantifiable at a brain-regional resolution beyond gene expression.
• Implementation: Implemented as an R package for computational generation of visualizations.

Scientific Applications:

• Developmental Transcriptomics: Visualizing spatial and temporal dynamics of gene expression across human development.
• Gene–Disease Association Analysis: Providing anatomical context to strengthen existing gene–disease associations and aid discovery of new associations.
• Neurological Disease Research: Investigating neurological diseases with known age at onset and region-specific characteristics.

Methodology:

Maps quantitative input data onto vector graphic brain diagrams to highlight spatiotemporal trends and can integrate prior knowledge of disease onset and regional specificity.