Abu dhabi: Researchers from NYU Abu Dhabi's Centre for Brain and Health, in collaboration with United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), have released a new brain health dataset to support research in the UAE and the wider Middle East and North Africa region. The initiative addresses a longstanding gap in large, controlled neuroimaging data from the region.

According to Emirates News Agency, the research has been published in Nature - Scientific Data and introduces the ASPIRE Research Institute Brain Health Dataset. This long-term initiative aims to recruit 2,000 participants, including 1,000 Emirati citizens and 1,000 non-Emirati residents aged 18 to 60.

The publication documents the study protocol and makes neuroimaging and behavioral data from the first 41 participants publicly available, alongside detailed documentation and preprocessing workflows to support reuse by the research community.

Bas Rokers, Director of the Centre for Brain and Health at NYU Abu Dhabi and senior author of the study, stated that the project creates essential research infrastructure for the region. It provides a foundation for future studies that reflect the UAE's population and contribute to global neuroscience research.

Abdalla Mohamed, lead author and Assistant Professor at the Department of Cognitive Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, remarked that the dataset lays the groundwork for understanding brain health in the UAE using high-quality, openly shared data. By making the data and study methods accessible, the initiative aims to enable collaboration and support reproducible brain health research.