Connectome: The 3013 neurons in the brain of a fly larva have been fully mapped
A complete map of neurons inside the brain of a fruit fly larva is the largest example of a whole-brain “connectome”, and is a springboard for describing the brains of more complex animals, including mice and humans
Life
December 2, 2022
The fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) is a standard laboratory animal Tomasz Klejdysz/iStockphoto/Getty Images
The connections in a baby fly’s brain have been fully mapped, creating the largest whole-brain ‘connectome’ described to date. This should allow researchers to understand how signals travel through a fly’s brain, how different regions of the brain interact, and ultimately how specific behaviors are generated at the neural level.
“All neurons in the brain are reconstructed and all connections have been analyzed”, explains Gaspar Jekely at the University of Exeter in…
