Credit: Tyler Sloan and Amy Sterling for FlyWire, Princeton University
Largest brain map ever reveals fruit fly’s neurons in exquisite detail
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03190-y
By Sara Reardon
Scientists have just completed the largest brain map ever, revealing the intricate workings of a fruit fly’s brain in unprecedented detail. This “connectome” outlines nearly 140,000 neurons and more than 54.5 million synapses, showing how different parts of the brain connect and interact. This is a huge leap forward for neuroscience, giving researchers new insights into brain function, with surprising discoveries such as neurons communicating across multiple senses like sight, touch, and hearing. The map, created by the FlyWire team using AI and volunteers for proofreading, promises to open new doors for understanding how brains—human or otherwise—work.