Add prairie vole blog

docs/source/blog/prairie-vole-atlas-added.md

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+---
+blogpost: true
+date: October 30, 2024
+author: Adam Tyson
+location: London, England
+category: brainglobe
+language: English
+---
+
+# An atlas for the prairie vole _Microtus ochrogaster_ has been added to BrainGlobe
+Prairie voles are a valuable model species for studying social interaction due to their characteristic pair-bonding behavior. 
+The brain of this species is structured similarly to the mouse and is only 30% larger, meaning it is particularly well suited to methods to map 
+brain anatomy and function using light microscopy, such as light-sheet fluorescence microscopy and serial section two-photon microscopy.
+
+To fully adopt these brain mapping techniques, a brain atlas is required (to use with tools such as 
+[brainreg](/documentation/brainreg/index)). Such an atlas was created by 
+[Gustison et al. (2024)](https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.87029.3), and has been packaged into the BrainGlobe format by
+Sacha Hadaway-Andreae in collaboration with the BrainGlobe team.
+
+
+![prairie vole brain atlas annotations](./images/prairie_vole_annotations.png)
+
+**Figure 1. Coronal view of the prairie vole brain atlas annotations.**
+
+This atlas can now be used within the BrainGlobe ecosystem, with the atlas name: `prairie_vole_25um`.
+
+## How do I use the new atlas?
+
+You can use the prairie vole atlas for visualisation like other BrainGlobe atlases. To visualise the atlas, you could follow the steps below:
+
+* Install BrainGlobe ([instructions](/documentation/index))
+* Open napari and follow the steps in our [download tutorial](/tutorials/manage-atlases-in-GUI.md) for the prairie vole atlas
+* Visualise the different parts of the atlas as described in our [visualisation tutorial](/tutorials/visualise-atlas-napari)
+
+To use the atlas with other software such as [brainreg](/documentation/brainreg/index), please follow the instructions 
+for those tools, and simply choose this atlas from the user interface.
+
+## Why are we adding new atlases?
+
+A fundamental aim of the BrainGlobe project is to make various brain atlases easily accessible by users across the globe. If you would like to get involved with a similar project, please [get in touch](/contact).