Second complete map of a fruit fly brain completed
Every neuron and connection in the brain of a fly has been mapped—twice.
Every neuron and connection in the brain of a fly has been mapped—twice.
The short version
- The people behind the effort expect that in the long term, the effort will be worth it, as the connectome could give neurobiologists a valuable tool for understanding how the brain works.
- Our interactions with the world begin with sensory input—the neurons that register sound, light, touch, and more.
- From there, most brain activity involves neurons communicating with each other.
What happened
This communication transforms the inputs into signals the rest of the brain can interpret, routes information to relevant processing centers, and often produces some kind of output, from forming a memory to moving a muscle. All that processing is dictated by which neurons have connections to others.
Why it matters
For example, the visual system does some basic recognition of its own before passing the results to the brain’s visual processing centers.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.