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AI Summary. Researchers built a complete map of the fruit fly brain from electron microscopy images stitched together with AI tools, identifying 8,453 neuron types, of which 4,581 were newly discovered. A computer simulation built from the map was more than 90% accurate at predicting which neurons would respond and how the fly would behave.

Sara Reardon Nature
Date Posted:

Mala Murthy and @SebastianSeung announced a complete fruit fly brain wiring diagram, or ‘connectome’, of nearly 140,000 neurons and more than 54.5 million synapses. A computer model based on the data predicted fruit fly behavior with 90% accuracy.

Can a complete brain map accurately predict neural responses and behavior?

Core argument: The FlyWire fruit-fly brain map identified 8,453 neuron types, more than anyone had expected, of which 4,581 were newly discovered, opening new research directions, according to Seung and Murthy.

Seung and Murthy say that they’ve been developing the FlyWire map for more than four years, using electron microscopy images of slices of the fly’s brain. The researchers and their colleagues stitched the data together to form a full map of the brain with the help of AI tools. The researchers identified 8,453 types of neuron — much more than anyone had expected. Of these, 4,581 were newly discovered, which will create new research directions. The team was surprised by some of the ways in which the various cells connect to one another, too. Neurons that were thought to be involved in just one sensory wiring circuit, such as a visual pathway, tended to receive cues from multiple senses, including hearing and touch. Researchers used the connectome to create a computer model of the entire fruit-fly brain, including all the connections between neurons. The researchers learned that the simulation was more than 90% accurate at predicting which neurons would respond and therefore how the fly would behave.

Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI

  1. The FlyWire fruit-fly brain map identified 8,453 neuron types, more than anyone had expected, of which 4,581 were newly discovered, opening new research directions, according to Seung and Murthy.
  2. Seung, Murthy, and colleagues built the FlyWire map over more than four years from electron microscopy images of slices of the fly's brain, stitching the data together with the help of AI tools.
  3. A computer model of the entire fruit-fly brain built from the connectome was more than 90% accurate at predicting which neurons would respond and how the fly would behave.
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