Yeah! It's actually a big concern for new players that they will "mess up" and end up hurting the data. But we have a consensus algorithm that runs constantly, checking each players' work against all others. This ensures that if one player is way off, that data doesn't make it into the final reconstruction. This is also how points are given in the game. The more a player's trace makes it into "consensus", the more points they get!

Right now, we are only working with a couple labs to get datasets. However, once we've expanded the platform a bit, we plan on accepting datasets from all over the world. That said, labs that are interested in partnering with us are encouraged to reach out.

Thank you so much, Stephen! We're really passionate about this work!

 

Have you piloted this in classrooms to be part of a neuroscience/biology unit or class?

• We have not yet piloted this in classrooms, apart from a few instances of user-testing. However, that is a phenomenal idea! Who better to get involved than students who are learning about the science.

Do users reconstruct neurons from normal brains versus brains in neurological disorders or other states?

• All neurons we currently reconstruct are considered typical (either human or mouse). In the instance of human cells, the datasets come from patients with severe epilepsy who have had sections of brain removed to minimize instances of seizures. During surgery, healthy sections of brain need to be cut away and that's where our lab partners get their datasets.

Could you say more about the information that users learn throughout their challenges (e.g. different classes of neurons, astrocytes, glial cells, etc.)?  Does their participation in such a task result in acknowledgment on academic papers and/or publications?

• In challenges, little "video lessons" are laid down on contextually appropriate parts of the neuron. These videos help to teach about neurons and help in reconstruction. For instance, we've a number of videos on axon characteristics. This helps players identify and follow those often elusive neurites and teaches about them simultaneously.
• Player contribution does indeed lead to acknowledgement in publications! In fact, most recently, the Allen Institute for Brain Science acknowledged Mozak players in their Nature publication. It is our lab's general policy to make players co-authors on papers their data contributes to.

Do you have results that report engagement from people who have non-STEM backgrounds?

• Currently, we only have indexed neuroscientists and non-neuroscientists (players self-report upon signing up). However, from discussions with the community, I can anecdotally report that most of our players have a non-STEM background but recognize the importance that science plays in society.

Thank you, Rachael! Yes, we have a wonderful community! Apart from contributing to the data, they can also talk using the in-game chat and post in the forums. A couple of our "power players" can even put comments into different challenges to help guide the completion of the reconstruction!! Expanding community features, I feel, is key to the continuing success of this (and similar!) projects.

in order to maximize the potential and learning from each participant, we continuously try adjust the platform for maximal learning of each individual.  We do not collect the demographic information however, and adjust only to the evidence of individual performance and behavior.

Thanks for the clarification, Zoran.

Thanks, mo! You are amazing!

Thank you so much!

Like most citizen science games, our player community varies greatly from month to month. Right now you can expect that 10-20 individuals will be contributing to the completion of a neuron. About 5 of those are our "power players" who play every challenge!

The cool thing about this approach is that because it's more than just one neuroscientist sitting behind a computer reconstructing in solitude, there is a system of checks and balances because multiple people are contributing.

For anyone under 18, we just ask that their parents look over the "terms of service and consent". This is because we use data collected for research so each person that plays should be aware of that.

In terms of engagement, our initial playtests were with sixth grade students and they did fantastically! We wanted to ensure that anyone could come, play, and understand the basic concepts. They passed that test with flying colors.

What are you working on right now??

Thank you so much, Parvaneh! 

Thank you so much, Laura! Firmly believe that citizen science can truly change humanity for the better.

Thank you, Lisa. I think it's always so inspiring to see how people have gone about solving these difficult problems and how that inspiration grows and spreads.