The images the scientists have produced, which have been published in the journal Nature, show a tangle of wiring that is as beautiful as it is complex.
Its shape and structure holds the key to explaining how such a tiny organ can carry out so many powerful computational tasks. Developing a computer the size of a poppy seed capable of all these tasks is way beyond the ability of modern science. Dr Mala Murthy, another of the projectâ(TM)s co-leaders, from Princeton University, said the new wiring diagram, known scientifically as a connectome, would be âoetransformative for neuroscientists.” […] The researchers have been able to identify separate circuits for many individual functions and show how they are connected. The wires involved with movement for example are at the base of the brain, whereas those for processing vision are towards the side. There are many more neurons involved in the latter because seeing requires much more computational power. While scientists already knew about the separate circuits they did not know how they were connected together. Anyone can view and download the fly connectome here.
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