What would you say about citizen science and the connectome?

#1

Hi all,

The connectome paper is coming out very soon. The NIH is organizing a press conference at SfN (Society for Neuroscience, the largest annual neuroscience conference) in Chicago in early October to highlight FlyWire as one of the flagship achievements of the US BRAIN Initiative.

They love that citizen scientists helped make it happen. They allocated 3 minutes at the press conference to talk about citizen science. If you were to inform this part, what would you want said about Flyers? There is particular interest in why you contributed to FlyWire.

Amy

cc @Krzysztof_Kruk @annkri @AzureJay @Nseraf @st0ck53y @Kfay @a5hm0r @Iliyan_Georgiev @bl4ckscor3 @Mavil @JousterL @Hewhoamareismyself @TR77 @M_Sorek

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#2

why:

  • to kill some time,
  • to find something to make myself busy, when my anxiety is high,
  • to help pushing forward science in general,
  • for myself, to understand, how some mechanisms in brain works,
  • for science, to help understand, how a whole brain works,
  • to help preparing tools and knowledge to understand, how more complex brains work,
  • to make a small contribution to find cures for all mental and neurodegenerative diseases, hopefully in not so distant future,
  • to be immortal, hopefully also in not so distant future (by either biological immortality or ability to transfer mind to a machine) :wink:

After a few minutes:

  • to do science without the need to apply for grants, writing papers, doing any administrative and teaching work,
  • to play games without the feeling of wasting my time.
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#3

For my part what has gotten me into FW and now BANC isā€¦eyewire, lol. What I mean is eyewire (and largely the community I found there as much as if not more than the actual game) and all its gamification(s), profiles, achievements, sense of belonging and purpose and so on got me into wanting to discover all the -new- neuron types I had/ve never seen before, and doing so whilst chatting with like-minded people from all over the world. So, while Iā€™ve long since stopped playing EW, that desire to discover new (to me at least if not to science) neuron types, shapes and so forth has ā€˜stuckā€™ with me so FW and BANC (and whatever else in the future) gives me that opportunity to see different neurons from different parts of different animals which is cool. I do miss the chat and/or the community of 2013-2016 EW though.

Also as KK mentioned being able to participate in breakthrough scientific research (and get my name/nickname as co-author into research publication(s)/paper(s) w/o having had to go through college, university, PhD, god knows how many years and hrs as research assistant/teacherā€™s assistant and so on until Iā€™m recognized enough to have my own lab/team etc is a big plus, b/c letā€™s face it while I do love science Iā€™ve never had the patience, discipline and/or ability to study as hard as all of the above would require me to to have a chance in hell of achieving any and all of that.

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#4

Iā€™ve always been a ā€œbio nerdā€ - I desperately wanted to go into biology / zoology from a young age, but because of my life circumstances I was discouraged and ultimately stopped from pursuing that degree. That didnā€™t take the passion for science out of me. However, I spent decades believing I wasnā€™t smart enough until I stumbled on citizen science online about a decade ago, which is how I eventually found my way to Eyewire (where it all started for our little gang of Flyers!).

There was just something about Eyewire that kept me coming back, something that satisfied my brain in the way the workflow of navigating 2D and 3D to find and correct forms. On top of that, I was learning brain science - something that I got a brief taste of in a special class in high school - and the community and upper level support was just astounding. I realized I could do this level of science, that in fact I was getting pretty good at it, and itā€™s just built up from there. When I got the invite to join FlyWire, I was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement, and even teared up because it made my brain realize Yes, you are smart.

Sappy reasons aside though, I feel like this work is very important and love being a part, however small, of helping it get done and develop. Itā€™s given me a deeper appreciation of the brain and complexity of nature, and a sense of awe as we delve into these projects into things we actually donā€™t know yet.

Scientific discovery doesnā€™t just happen in a lab. It happens all around us, and anyone is capable of doing it - regardless of background.

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#5

As the others have already said the reason i got into flywire is because i was already part of eyewire and it was a easy step to take where you got another challenge that made the game new again.
I do like puzzle games, and beeing able to say to myself that i am contributing to something bigger at the same time as i am relaxing with a game is a big reason i got stuck with it.
I did try out the game early in 2013 without really understanding how to play. But after a year or two when working on my masterdegree i had a lot of freetime waiting on results and remembered eyewire.
A lot of the reason i stayed in the game then was because a really supportive community and active chat where you could always get help and often a watcher on cubes i was unsure about.
With a active chat where you could talk about everything, made you feel that you got to know your fellow players and their life outside the game in a way where age had nothing to say. Beeing able to take part in all of the conversations was probably the only reason i wanted to get promoted from normal player to scout and mentor. I also reallly liked the way there was a competiton to get cells finished both marathon and end of the month and lot of talk about it in the chat resulting in playing too far into the evening /night after normal sleep time.

if i had not gotten into eyewire when the community was at is most active/ supportive i would probably not have stayed long enogh to get really into the game. Now it is more beacuse i want to finish and see the progress from better datasets compared to the original eyewire.

Even if i am not really into the bigger science behind it, beeing able to get small bits of information on what you are looking at, like this is a button, or blood vessel or what is the differance betwheen dentrites and axons. While still in the same cube, make the experience a lot better, but it is also something i forget if not getting the reminder of it regulary

i think also it has been important to have community and individual goals that is talked about and marked when reached.

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#6

Flywire was the logical continuation of Eyewire and Mystic, same concept, same player play again ! But the AI is a step higher and itā€™s way more interesting and intriguing.

I will pass over the Eyewire adventure on a daily basis, all has spoken enough about it before me, it is a fascinating, gripping and unforgettable experience! Next to the crazy Marathon weekends, the Happy Hours, the endless waits during server outages and the endless laughter in chat, the community will have been the most important pillar for me.

As a graphic designer passionate about technology, I was immediately drawn to this concept of graphics/gaming/AI. Learning that this project aims to one day reconstruct the human brain deeply captivated me. I suffer from chronic tinnitus, a condition that is underrecognized and poorly studied, often linked to brain-related issues. By participating in the community, I am no longer just waiting, but actively contributing to scientific progress. And one day, perhaps, this science will help me.

It also launched me into the world of AI, which I am now passionate about and turned professionally into Consulting. A whole new paradigm is opening up to us, a promising future, and Eyewire has been a pillar in my life. Although I have less time to dedicate to it now, I still participate in new projects as much as possible because they are fascinating.

Because Eyewire, Mystic, FlyWire, BANC, is also a constantly evolving community, with such a friendly team that you canā€™t help but adore them, and over time, we become one big family.

Itā€™s also a unique experience that very few people get to enjoy! Collaborating with extraordinary individuals from all over the world who give their time to share and support each other is a privilege. I also think of memorable moments like meeting our dear Susi, her husband, Anke, Amy, and Will in Sissach a few years ago, a particularly enriching day !

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#7

Thanks everyone for all of these thoughtful responses! Itā€™s wonderful to hear the stories behind the citizen science community.

We are working hard on additional datasets. There will soon be not one but two different mouse hippocampal datasets, and a new mouse retina. There are even more in the works.

Your efforts have resulted in an upcoming publication that John Ngai, the director of the US NIH BRAIN Initiative, called ā€œa milestone for neruoscience,ā€ and proven that science can be done by anyone anywhere. You are paving the way for the next generation of brain mapping and (hopefully) the clinical therapies enabled by future connectomic analysis. I hope you are super proud of what you have achieved in Eyewire and FlyWire - we certainly are!!

For science!
Amy & team citizen science @ Princeton

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