A team of scientists has created the largest ever detailed brain map of the nerves of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), revealing precise details of nearly 140,000 neurons and more than 54.5 million synapses. The project was led by the FlyWire consortium, which includes neuroscientists from Princeton University. This achievement represents an important step in the field of neuroscience.
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According to the scientific journal Nature, this map took more than four years to develop using high-resolution electron micrographs and artificial intelligence tools. However, scientists needed careful manual review to ensure the accuracy of the data, with the participation of volunteers, as more than 3 million manual modifications were made to the map.
The surprising discoveries included the identification of 8,453 types of neurons, including 4,581 new types, opening new horizons for scientific research. The map revealed an unexpected overlap between sensory neural circuits, as neurons receive signals from multiple senses, including hearing, touch, and vision.
This map is a big step towards a more detailed understanding of the brain, although scientists stress that there is much future work to fully understand the functions of the fruit fly brain, including studying the male brain to discover associated behaviors such as singing.
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