Scientists have unveiled the first complete map of an insect’s brain.
The comprehensive map, called a connectome, took 12 years of meticulous work to construct, and shows the location of all 3,016 neurons in the brain of a larval fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). Between those brain cells are 548,000 points of connection, or synapses, where cells can send each other chemical messages that, in turn, trigger electrical signals that travel through the cells’ wiring.
Researchers identified networks through which neurons on one side of the brain send data to the other, the team reported March 9 in the journal Science(opens in new tab). The team also classified 93 distinct types of neurons, which differ in their shape, proposed function and the way they connect to other neurons.
The new connectome is remarkable for its completeness, experts told Live Science.
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