NeuroArch: A Graph dB for Querying and Executing Fruit Fly Brain Circuits

NeuroArch is a database for codifying knowledge about fruit fly brain circuits. It is designed with two user communities in mind: (i) neurobiologists interested in querying the database to address questions regarding neu- roanatomy, neural circuits, neurons, synapses, neurotransmitters, and gene expression, and (ii) computational neuroscientists interested in the instantiation of models of neural circuits and architectures, their program execution, and validation of hypotheses regarding brain function. A key aim of NeuroArch is to provide an interface between the concerns of these two communities. To this end, NeuroArch defines a data model for representation of both biological data and model structure and the relationships between them within a single graph database. When coupled with a powerful interface for querying both types of data within the database in a uniform manner, this representation enables neurobiologists to benefit from high-level organization of fruit fly data, while model designers can capitalize upon the integration of biological data from multiple sources. This document describes the requirements and design of NeuroArch, and details how it can be used with the Neurokernel framework to accelerate collaborative development of models of the fruit fly brain. A brief discussion of future development plans is also provided.