In that regard, the International Neuroimaging Data-sharing Initiative (INDI), a next-generation FCP endeavor, was founded in an attempt to (1) expand the scope of open data sharing in the functional neuroimaging community to include phenotypic data beyond age and sex (a limitation of the FCP data set) and (2) provide a model for prospective, prepublication data sharing. INDI has Birinapant already demonstrated the feasibility of achieving these goals. In
particular, the Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample (NKI-RS) successfully and prospectively distributed over 200 deeply phenotyped R-fMRI and diffusion tensor imaging data sets sampling the life span via weekly uploads. With recently granted National Institute of Mental Health funding, the NKI-RS effort will phenotype and image 1,000 individuals over the next 4 years—once again with weekly prepublication sharing, including R-fMRI and diffusion imaging data acquired via novel sequences (Feinberg et al., 2010) provided by the HCP. Numerous other prospective data PD0332991 sets have been pledged or provided, with varying distribution
schedules (e.g., quarterly). INDI also actively gathers and shares retrospective data sets. The Brain Genomics Superstruct Project, launched in 2008 at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, will share 1,500 data sets in 2012 (Yeo et al., 2011). The ADHD-200 was launched in March 2011, sharing data sets from 485 typically developing children and 291 children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder aggregated from eight independent imaging sites. This was a landmark
event for child psychiatry, for which data collection can be exceedingly costly and technically challenging. INDI offers a drastically less expensive means of accelerating science by providing large boluses of data upon which future efforts can be based. The FCP and INDI efforts are not unique in embracing open data sharing. The first, fMRIDC, successfully accumulated thousands of images and inspired researchers worldwide. Similarly, Brainscape, OASIS (http://www.oasis-brains.org) Astemizole and XNAT Central (http://central.xnat.org) were established to encourage investigators to deposit data sets for open sharing. Additionally, the XNAT-based efforts aim to enable easy data accessioning and databasing: highly desirable goals that are increasingly being realized (Marcus et al., 2007). The mantle of T-fMRI data sharing is now being taken up again by Open fMRI (http://www.openfmri.org), which also provides analytic tools (Poldrack, 2011). Additionally, http://openconnectome.org has launched a data-sharing initiative for electron microscopy data that provides information about microlevel connectome properties.