Neuroscience

Brain data standards, behaviour and neuroscience metadata. See neuroschema.org for the full neuroscience catalog.

51 resources

Sorted by evaluation score
Ontology B73

NBONeuro Behavior Ontology

Covers behavioral processes and phenotypes, such as learning, motor and social behavior, for annotating animal and human behavior.

Neuroscience+1 domain 2023-07-04
OWLOBO FAIR 47/48 · 0 adopters
Ontology C61

AddictOAddiction Ontology

An ontology being developed to cover all aspects of addiction research. It imports from, and is reused by, the Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology (BCIO).

Neuroscience 2026-10-08
OWL FAIR 31/48 · 0 adopters
Data standard C59

BIDSBrain Imaging Data Structure

A community standard for organising and describing neuroimaging and related data: MRI, EEG, MEG, iEEG, PET, microscopy, NIRS, motion, MRS, EMG, eye tracking, and derivatives such as atlases. Its rules are a machine-readable YAML schema, also exported as one JSON file, that renders the specification and drives the BIDS Validator. Metadata fields point to HED, Cognitive Atlas, CogPO, the Cell Ontology, NCBI Taxonomy and RRIDs.

Neuroscience+2 domains v1.11.2
YAML schemaJSONTSV FAIR 24/48 · 7 adopters
Ontology C59

NPONeuron Phenotype Ontology

Defines neuron types by combinations of phenotypes (location, morphology, molecular markers, electrophysiology, projections). Part of the NIF Ontology.

Neuroscience+3 domains 2011-12-08 (yyyy-mm-dd)
OWLTurtle FAIR 36/48 · 1 adopter
Schema D53

DANDI schemaDANDI Archive Metadata Schema

The metadata models of the DANDI neurophysiology archive. Pydantic models in the dandischema library define Dandiset and asset metadata; versioned JSON Schemas plus a JSON-LD context are generated from them and published in the dandi/schema repository. The library also converts Dandiset metadata to DataCite for DOIs.

Neuroscience+1 domain 0.14.0
JSON SchemaJSON-LDPydantic FAIR 24/48 · 1 adopter
Data standard D50

NWBNeurodata Without Borders Schema

A data standard and schema for neurophysiology: extracellular and intracellular electrophysiology, optical physiology, behavior and stimuli, extensible via neurodata extensions (NDX).

Neuroscience+2 domains 2.11.0
YAML schemaHDF5Zarr FAIR 21/48 · 4 adopters
Schema D44

NeuroML

An XML-based language (with XSD schema) for describing detailed neuron, synapse and network models in a simulator-independent way.

Neuroscience+1 domain NMLv2.3.1
XSDXMLLEMS FAIR 21/48 · 2 adopters
Ontology D43

NIFSTDNIF Standard Ontology

The Neuroscience Information Framework ontology: a broad, modular set of neuroscience terms spanning anatomy, cells, molecules, techniques and resources.

Neuroscience+1 domain v3.1
OWLTurtle FAIR 31/48 · 2 adopters
Vocabulary D42

HEDHierarchical Event Descriptors

A structured vocabulary and annotation system for describing experimental events in time-series data such as EEG, MEG, fMRI and behavior.

Neuroscience+1 domain mouse_v1.0.0
XMLMediaWikiTSV FAIR 24/48 · 2 adopters
Ontology Legacy D41

FMAFoundational Model of Anatomy

A detailed reference ontology of human anatomy, including fine-grained neuroanatomy. Marked inactive in the OBO Foundry; much of its neuro content is cross-referenced from Uberon.

Neuroscience+3 domains 5.1.0
OWL FAIR 41/48 · 0 adopters
Schema D40

openMINDS

A set of metadata models and controlled terms for neuroscience graph databases, covering datasets, subjects, methods, software, models and brain atlases (SANDS).

Neuroscience+1 domain commit 19412fa
JSON SchemaJSON-LD FAIR 19/48 · 1 adopter
Ontology E34

MBAAllen Mouse Brain Atlas Ontology

The hierarchy of adult mouse brain regions used by the Allen Mouse Brain Atlas and Common Coordinate Framework, packaged as an OWL ontology by the BICAN community.

Neuroscience 2025-10-29
OWLOBO FAIR 27/48 · 2 adopters
Data standard E33

NeuroBlueprint

A lightweight, BIDS-inspired specification for organising systems-neuroscience project folders by subject, session and datatype (ephys, behav, funcimg, anat) from acquisition onward. Developed by the Neuroinformatics Unit at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre and implemented by datashuttle.

Neuroscience v0.5.0
Folder layout FAIR 13/48 · 0 adopters
Data standard E33

Psych-DS

A BIDS-inspired standard for organising datasets from psychological and behavioural research (experiments, surveys, assessments): CSV data files with keyword-formatted names and dataset metadata in schema.org JSON-LD. What counts as valid is defined by a versioned YAML schema model that the Psych-DS validators read.

Neuroscience commit 553531c
YAML schemaJSON-LDCSV FAIR 19/48 · 0 adopters
Data standard E33

SDSSPARC Dataset Structure

File and metadata structure for datasets in the NIH SPARC programme on the peripheral nervous system, with curation tooling that maps to InterLex terms.

Neuroscience 0.0.1.dev5
SpreadsheetJSON FAIR 13/48 · 1 adopter
Schema E31

BICAN modelsBICAN Knowledge Graph Models

LinkML data models for the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN) knowledgebase: taxonomies, assertions and evidence, library generation, anatomical structures, genome annotation, donors and a BICAN subset of Biolink. JSON Schema and Pydantic models are generated from the LinkML sources.

Neuroscience 0.2.0
LinkMLJSON SchemaPydantic FAIR 13/48 · 2 adopters
Vocabulary E30

NeurobagelNeurobagel data model and vocabulary

An RDF vocabulary (nb:) and a JSON Schema for data dictionaries that harmonise participant-level metadata (age, sex, diagnosis, assessments, imaging modality, processing pipelines) by annotating BIDS participants.tsv columns with SNOMED CT, NCIt and NIDM terms. The resulting graphs power Neurobagel's federated search across datasets.

Neuroscience commit b5953b2
JSON SchemaJSON-LDRDF FAIR 19/48 · 0 adopters
Schema E30

ReproSchema

A JSON-LD schema for standardising assessments and questionnaires, with versioned items, scoring and provenance, plus a shared library of instruments.

Neuroscience 1.0.0
JSON-LDLinkML FAIR 16/48 · 1 adopter
Schema E26

BICAN metadataBICAN Metadata Schemas

Metadata schemas and curation documentation for BICAN data, each reviewed and standardized by the BICAN Metadata and Ontologies Integration Working Group (MOWG).

Neuroscience v2026.04.01
Schema files FAIR 8/48 · 1 adopter
Schema E25

Neuroshapes

Open SHACL schemas for neuroscience data and provenance, originally developed within INCF and used by Blue Brain Nexus.

Neuroscience v0.3.15
SHACLJSON-LD FAIR 21/48 · 1 adopter
Ontology E23

BICANOBICAN Application Ontology

An application ontology covering research, research subjects and research results in BICAN, linking experimental knowledge to how data is distributed. It builds on earlier BICCN and Brain Data Standards work.

Neuroscience v2023-10-04
OWL FAIR 21/48 · 1 adopter
Data standard E23

NIfTINeuroimaging Informatics Technology Initiative format

The standard file format for volumetric neuroimaging data. A fixed binary header (NIfTI-1, or NIfTI-2 for large dimensions) carries voxel-to-world affines (qform/sform), units, intent codes and extensions, followed by the image array. Defined by the NIfTI Data Format Working Group; CIFTI-2 builds on NIfTI-2 for grayordinate data.

Neuroscience v3.0.0
NIfTI-1NIfTI-2 FAIR 13/48 · 3 adopters
Schema E22

CASCell Annotation Schema

A JSON Schema for recording cell type annotations of single-cell datasets, including evidence, marker genes and links to ontology terms.

Neuroscience v1.1.0
JSON Schema FAIR 13/48 · 1 adopter
Knowledge base E20

CogAtCognitive Atlas

A collaborative knowledge base of cognitive concepts, tasks, and the relations between them, built for annotating cognitive neuroscience experiments.

Neuroscience
WebJSON APIOWL FAIR 14/48 · 2 adopters
Schema Inactive E19

NIDMNeuroimaging Data Model

A family of W3C PROV-based specifications for describing neuroimaging experiments, workflows and results (NIDM-Experiment, NIDM-Workflows, NIDM-Results).

Neuroscience NIDM-Results_1.3.0 + co…
RDFTurtleJSON-LD FAIR 19/48 · 2 adopters
Ontology E17

SCAOSpinal Cord Atlas Ontology

An early-stage BICAN ontology repository for spinal cord atlas structures, set up with the Ontology Development Kit.

Neuroscience commit a5f68ee
OWL FAIR 19/48 · 0 adopters
Ontology E15

PBAPrimate Brain Atlas

A controlled vocabulary to support the study of transcription in the primate brain

Neuroscience commit 3ce25f0
OBO FAIR 21/48 · 0 adopters
Data standard Inactive E11

NIXNeuroscience Information Exchange format

A generic data model and HDF5-based file format, started in the INCF Electrophysiology Task Force, that stores neuroscience data (time series, images, events, regions of interest) together with their metadata in one container. Metadata follow the odML model, and Neo reads and writes NIX files.

Neuroscience 1.4.5
HDF5 FAIR 13/48 · 1 adopter
Ontology E10

ICEPOIon Channel Electrophysiology Ontology

The Ion Channel Electrophysiology Ontology supports the capture of voltage-gated ion channel electrophysiological data from the literature in a structured manner and thus enables other applications such as querying and reasoning tools.

Neuroscience
OBO FAIR 15/48 · 0 adopters
Ontology E8

BITOBICAN Techniques Ontology

An ontology of experimental techniques and methods used across the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network, to help scientists describe how data were produced.

Neuroscience commit 0d1ec3c
OWL FAIR 14/48 · 0 adopters
Vocabulary E8

CCNCommon Cell Type Nomenclature

A convention for naming and identifying data-driven cell types and taxonomies so that they can be compared and tracked across studies.

Neuroscience
Convention FAIR 6/48 · 1 adopter
Vocabulary E8

InterLex

A dynamic term registry (successor to NeuroLex) where neuroscience terms are minted, linked to existing ontologies and given stable ILX identifiers.

Neuroscience
WebREST APITurtle FAIR 11/48 · 2 adopters
Ontology E8

NDNeurological Disease Ontology

A framework for representing neurological diseases together with their diagnosis, treatment and associated clinical findings.

Neuroscience commit 756a205
OWL FAIR 14/48 · 0 adopters
Vocabulary E8

NeuroNames

A long-standing nomenclature of primate brain structures with synonyms across languages and atlases, served through BrainInfo.

Neuroscience
WebSpreadsheet FAIR 6/48 · 1 adopter
Ontology E8

PBAOPrimate Brain Atlas Ontology

An application ontology of the Allen Institute Primate Brain Atlas structure graph, mapped to Uberon. Currently in draft status.

Neuroscience commit 3ce25f0
OWL FAIR 14/48 · 0 adopters

Browse all 51 in the catalog →

Also used in Neuroscience

23 resources from other domains
Ontology A96

UBERONUber-anatomy Ontology

A cross-species anatomy ontology covering animals, with extensive coverage of nervous system structures. It is the common anatomy backbone for many cell, expression and phenotype resources.

Life Sciences+3 domains 2026-10-01
OWLOBOJSON FAIR 47/48 · 14 adopters
Ontology A95

CLCell Ontology

The reference ontology of cell types across organisms, with a large and growing branch of neuron and glial types.

Life Sciences+2 domains 2026-06-08
OWLOBOJSON FAIR 48/48 · 9 adopters
Ontology A95

MONDOMondo Disease Ontology

A unified disease ontology that merges many disease resources, with comprehensive coverage of neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Health & Clinical+2 domains 2026-10-06
OWLOBOJSON FAIR 48/48 · 6 adopters
Ontology A91

GOGene Ontology

Describes gene product functions, processes and locations, including synaptic transmission, neurotransmitter release and neuron development.

Life Sciences+3 domains 2026-07-26
OWLOBOJSON FAIR 48/48 · 6 adopters
Ontology A89

FBbtDrosophila Anatomy Ontology

Anatomy of Drosophila melanogaster, including thousands of named neuron types linked to connectome datasets.

Life Sciences+1 domain 2026-10-01
OWLOBO FAIR 48/48 · 2 adopters
Ontology A87

HPOHuman Phenotype Ontology

Standard vocabulary of phenotypic abnormalities in human disease, with a large nervous system abnormality branch used in rare-disease diagnostics.

Health & Clinical+2 domains 2026-09-01
OWLOBOJSON FAIR 45/48 · 2 adopters
Ontology A85

RORelation Ontology

The OBO Relation Ontology provides consistent and unambiguous formal definitions of the relational expressions used in biomedical ontologies.

Foundational & Upper Ontologies+5 domains 2026-09-04
OWLOBOJSON FAIR 48/48 · 1 adopter
Ontology B79

PAINThe Pain Ontology

An ontology that formalizes IASP's definition of pain as both an unpleasant physical and emotional experience, and it provides terms and axioms to represent the multidimensional aspects of pain, such as temporality, quality, extent, biological mechanism, and anatomical location.

Health & Clinical+2 domains 2026-10-15
OWLJSON FAIR 47/48 · 0 adopters
Ontology C60

MFOEMEmotion Ontology

Represents affective phenomena such as emotions, moods and appraisals, as an extension of the Mental Functioning Ontology.

Health & Clinical+1 domain 2025-07-31
OWL FAIR 46/48 · 0 adopters
Ontology Inactive C59

PCLProvisional Cell Ontology

Holds data-driven cell types (e.g. from single-cell transcriptomics of the brain) before they are ready for the Cell Ontology, linked to their source taxonomies.

Life Sciences+2 domains 2025-07-07
OWLOBO FAIR 47/48 · 1 adopter
Vocabulary D53

SSTIMSensory Stimulation Ontology

SSTIM is an open OWL and SKOS vocabulary for sensory stimulation. It mints identifiers for stimulation techniques, stimuli and their parameters, delivery media and body placements, exposure and safety boundaries, session records, and the evidence assessments attached to a claim. It exists so that auditory, visual, tactile and cross-modal stimulation protocols can be described and exchanged in one vocabulary instead of per-study prose, and it is used by researchers, tool builders and the W3C Sensory Stimulation Vocabulary Community Group.

Health & Clinical+1 domain 0.20.0
OWL FAIR 40/48 · 0 adopters
Ontology D50

GMHOGALENOS Mental Health Ontology

The GALENOS Mental Health Ontology (GMHO) is being developed to represent the full range of concepts relevant to mental health. It forms a core component of the Global Alliance for Living Evidence on aNxiety, depressiOn and pSychosis (GALENOS) project, which aims to build a living evidence base for anxiety, depression, and psychosis.

Health & Clinical+1 domain 2026-03-26
OWL FAIR 31/48 · 0 adopters
Ontology E39

CTOClinical Trials Ontology

The core Ontology of Clinical Trials (CTO) will serve as a structured resource integrating basic terms and concepts in the context of clinical trials. Thereby covering clinicaltrails.gov. CoreCTO will serve as a basic ontology to generate extended versions for specific applications such as annotation of variables in study documents from clinical trials.

Health & Clinical+2 domains commit d5a3f8a
OWL FAIR 34/48 · 0 adopters
Ontology Legacy E33

NIF_CELLNIF Cell

NIF Cell: Neuronal cell types. A ontology listed in Bioregistry, OBO Foundry.

Life Sciences+2 domains v.1.10 - July 17, 2013
OWL FAIR 33/48 · 0 adopters
Ontology Inactive E16

biomodels.teddyTerminology for Description of Dynamics

The Terminology for Description of Dynamics (TEDDY) is an ontology for dynamical behaviours, observable dynamical phenomena, and control elements of bio-models and biological systems in Systems Biology and Synthetic Biology.

Life Sciences+1 domain 2014-04-24
OWL FAIR 34/48 · 0 adopters
Ontology Legacy E7

NIF_GROSSANATOMYNIF Gross Anatomy

The "Neuroscience Information Framework Gross Anatomy" was developed as part of the NIF Standard Ontologies. It extended NeuroNames by including terms from BIRNLex, SumsDB, BrainMap.org, etc.; for multi-scale representation of the nervous system and macroscopic anatomy. For more information, see the article "Development and use of Ontologies Inside the Neuroscience Information Framework: A Practical Approach" FT Imam et al, Front Genet 2012 Jun 22; 3:111. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2012.00111. eCollection 2012 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22737162/

Life Sciences+1 domain
OWLOBO FAIR 22/48 · 0 adopters

Other categories: Foundational & Upper Ontologies · Metadata, Provenance & Publishing · Life Sciences · Health & Clinical · Chemistry & Materials · Earth & Environment · Agriculture, Food & Plants · Physical Sciences, Maths & Units · Engineering & Built Environment · Humanities & Culture · Privacy, Security & Law · Society, Government & Business · Computing & Software · Multidisciplinary & General