Features

• PBC Brain Connectivity Challenge
• 2009 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Conference on Data Mining
• Pittsburgh Brain Competition Brain Connectivity Challenge

The competition involves applying data mining to map the "cables of the human brain" mapping ~300,000 fiber streamlines into 20-50 cables or tracts.

It involves two challenges 1) Supervised learning to match the categorization of an expert, and 2) Unsupervised learning of within and between subject segmentation. A short YouTube presentation details the competition including illustrations of the fiber tracts.

Details are available at the web site braincompetition.org. All entrants will be able to compare their scores relative to all the other completed entrants. Awards will be announced at ICDM December 2009. They will include: Supervised Learning Match Expert Award $2000 (US); Unsupervised Learning Within and Between Subject Award; and possibly a Contest Crown Award (if a group scores top in both award categories including $1000 and the option to have the team leader have their brain scanned to create a fiber map of their brain).

Key dates:

• Data training data available: Sept. 14, 2009
• Full data: Oct. 1, 2009
• Results due: Nov. 2, 2009
• Write-ups: Nov. 6, 2009

• Competition website:
• Youtube Overview:
• ICDM 2009:

Contact email: pbc(at)pitt.edu

This contest is sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh, Walter Schneider competition director.