Mapping The Entire Fruit Fly Brain

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 7 October 2024

⏱️ 15 minutes

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Summary

Fruit fly brains are smaller than a poppy seed, but that doesn't mean they aren't complex. For the first time, researchers have published a complete diagram of 50 million connections in an adult fruit flies brain. The journal Nature simultaneously published nine papers related to this new brain map. Until now, only a roundworm and a fruit fly larva had been mapped in this way.

Read more of science correspondent Jon Hamilton's reporting here.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from the Center for U.S. Voters Abroad Foundation.
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0:13.5	Visit International Voter.com.
0:16.0	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:23.0	Hey there Short short waivers, or should I say my fly girls and fly guys, Regina Barbara here, and this episode is for you.
0:30.0	And that's because we're going to talk about fly brains, specifically fruit fly brains.
0:35.0	And here to explain why we should care about an insect brain that's smaller than a poppy seed is
0:39.9	NPR's own fly brainiac, John Hamilton.
0:43.2	Hey Gina!
0:43.9	How's it going?
0:44.9	It's going well.
0:45.9	And let me tell you why we should care about fly brains.
0:48.9	The reason is that...
0:49.9	I already care.
0:51.0	This little tiny brain, scientists think think is going to be able to tell
0:54.8	us a lot about how all brains work. I mean even in a human brain. And that is
0:59.6	especially true now because researchers have published the first complete wiring diagram of an adult fruit flies brain.
1:09.0	spoiler, this brain has 50 million connections.
1:12.0	That seems like a lot for a very tiny brain. brain has 50 million connections.
1:12.6	That seems like a lot for a very tiny brain.
1:15.4	Yeah, impressive, right, for this little creature that has only about 140,000 neurons.
	...

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