SPARC is an Open Data Repository

SPARC was initially funded through a significant 8-year investment by the NIH Office of the Director to serve as the data integration, analysis, mapping, and publishing platform for the NIH Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC) program, focused mainly on improving our understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) to support the development of more effective neuromodulation therapies.

SPARC transitioned to an open repository in 2023 with an expanded scope beyond the ANS to support the new NIH data-sharing policy. With its unique focus on the PNS and systems physiology, the SPARC Portal provides a critical neuroscience-focused resource that complements the investments by the US BRAIN initiative in data-modality-specific data archives for CNS data. It provides a community hub for rapidly developing and highly integrative fields such as neuromodulation, interoception, and gut-brain interactions. We decided to keep the SPARC branding but no longer expand the acronym to reflect our broader focus.