Interactive maps of nerve-organ anatomy and function on the SPARC Portal

The map viewers of the SPARC Portal ( https://sparc.science ) provide interactive, modular, and continually updated visualizations of nerve-organ anatomy and function. SPARC data and knowledge are registered onto two-dimensional flatmaps, and three-dimensional anatomical organ and whole-body scaffolds. Flatmaps are zoomable maps built from a range of sources and portray anatomy and nerve knowledge of a given species. S caffold maps are three-dimensional geometric models able to represent the spatial distribution of connectivity knowledge, observed data, and computational models. These maps, and their annotations, are published as SPARC datasets and they are available for public viewing using the map viewers on the SPARC Portal ( https://sparc.science/apps/maps ). The map viewers provide visual interfaces for exploring data and tools in the context of knowledge about neural connectivity. Visualization on the viewer can be customized using different settings. Search can be conducted on both flatmaps and scaffolds to find and highlight specific features. The maps sidebar provides the user with a way to navigate the data. Selecting a teardrop marker in the maps will open the sidebar automatically and launch a search for data relevant to the selected anatomical feature. The sidebar includes a mini gallery for each dataset to enable the user to quickly visually page through the content of each dataset and, where appropriate, launch the associated viewer. Data and literature sources and other relevant information of a network and connectivity can be explored comprehensively, based on standardized annotations. Multiple maps can be visualized simultaneously using a split-pane display system. Users can dynamically create permalinks to specific views, allowing knowledge and corresponding visualization to be shared and cited. Authenticated portal users can create new annotations on existing maps by drawing directly on the maps and adding associated literature and/or data evidence in support of their annotations. Development of the map viewers is on-going, and new features continue to be deployed to the SPARC Portal to support the growing collection of data and knowledge available there. This work is supported by the NIH SPARC program under award number OT3OD025347. This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.