Researchers from Google create detailed 3D map of a fruit fly brain

A joint project between Google scientists and researchers from Janella Research Campus in Virginia has created a high resolution 3D map of the fruit fly brain, the most detailed 3D model of a brain yet created. While fruit flies have tiny brains, roughly the size of a poppy seed, they behave in ways that indicate substantial intelligence. These behaviors include complex courtship dances and a tendency to investigate for hazards like toxic chemicals before choosing to move to new locations. In total, the fruit fly brain as around 100,000 neurons, about the same amount as a lobster, but less than a cockroach, which has around a million. Researchers had previously created a computer model of the fruit fly brain by analyzing a series of microscopic images, but this is the first time a map has been built from real 3D data.