Google Research Maps Complete Fruit Fly Brain and Nervous System
Google Research, in collaboration with HHMI Janelia and other researchers, has built the first complete map of an adult male fruit fly (Drosophila) brain and central nervous system. The map contains over 166,000 neurons, nearly 11,700 cell types, connections between the brain and the nerve chain controlling movement, and visual-motor pathways with sex-specific differences.
Using millions of 2D images of thin tissue slices, the team reconstructed a detailed 3D model with AI-assisted classification, allowing researchers to trace signal paths from vision and taste to motor neurons and specific behaviors, including courtship. A surprising finding: sex differences in the brain may lie in connection patterns, where the same neuron type connects to different neighbors in males versus females, leading to different behaviors.
Three companion studies using this map were published simultaneously, covering vision, taste, and social behavior in fruit flies.
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