Stunning images reveal the most detailed map of the brain EVER seen

The structure of the brain is one of the most bafflingly complex puzzles in the universe. 

But now, an international team of scientists has created the first map showing every neuron and connection in an adult brain.

This 'wiring diagram', created by the FlyWire Consortium, reveals each of the 139,255 neurons in the brain of a fruit fly and the 50 million connections between them.

While the human brain has about one million times more neurons than that of a fly, the researchers say this takes us closer towards understanding our own minds.

Co-leader of the project Dr Gregory Jefferis, of the University of Cambridge, says: 'Brain wiring diagrams are a first step towards understanding everything we're interested in – how we control our movement, answer the telephone, or recognise a friend.'

Read More

The most detailed map of the brain ever seen: Stunning images reveal over 100 new regions and could 'revolutionise medicine'

Even though the brain of an adult fruit fly is less than one millimetre across, it is still an enormously complicated structure to study.

To produce this groundbreaking map, the brain of a female adult fruit fly was carefully cut into 7,000 segments each only 40 nanometers thick.

Each segment was then individually scanned using a high-powered electron microscope to reveal the individual cells that make up the brain.

The resulting dataset took up 100 Terabytes of storage - the equivalent of 2,500 high-definition movies.

The researchers developed an AI capable of reconstructing a map of the brain by identifying each and every neuron and connection.

However, since the AI was still prone to some errors, a team of 287 researchers from more than 76 laboratories around the world combed through the entire dataset to check for mistakes.

If an individual person had been working non-stop to check the data, the researchers estimate it would have taken 33 years to complete the project.

While the effort was monumental, the pay-off is the most detailed map of any animal's brain ever produced.

This map has been published in two papers in Nature and has been made openly available for other scientists. 

Compared to earlier attempts to detail small regions of a fly's brain, this new map contains seven times more neurons and records 54.5 million individual connections.

Previously the largest brains to be fully mapped belonged to fruitfly larvae which have 3,016 neurons or nematodes which only have 302.

This marks the first time that scientists have been able to map the brain of an animal that can walk, see, and engage in complex behaviour.

The researchers believe this could pave the way to understanding the fundamental dynamics that allow for complex behaviour.

Read More

Delving inside the mind: Incredible graphics reveal what each section of your BRAIN does - with more than 70,000 thoughts processed every single day

Dr Jefferis says: 'Flies can do all kinds of complicated things like walk, fly, navigate, and the males sing to the females.

'If we want to understand how the brain works, we need a mechanistic understanding of how all the neurons fit together and let you think.'

One insight which has already emerged from the study is that our brains may not be as unique as we think.

Compared to previous partial brain maps, the researchers discovered significant similarities in how the neurons were wired together.

This suggests that our brains may not be 'a unique structure like a snowflake' but rather follow set patterns.

The researchers found that just 0.5 per cent of neurons in the brain had variations which caused them to be wired differently.

These miswired neurons could be the source of our mind's individuality or brain disorders.

However, seeing how the neurons fit together is only the first part of the puzzle.

If scientists want to start simulating fruit fly's brains digitally, we also need to know what all the parts of the brain are doing.

Co-first author Dr Philipp Schlegel, from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, says: 'This dataset is a bit like Google Maps but for brains: the raw wiring diagram between neurons is like knowing which structures on satellite images of the earth correspond to streets and buildings.

'Annotating neurons is like adding the names for streets and towns, business opening times, phone numbers, reviews, et cetera to the map – you need both for it to be really useful.'

The researchers have already identified more than 8,400 unique cell types responsible for abilities like sight or movements including 4,581 previously unknown types.

Read More

MRI scans reveal the STUNNING stages of consciousness in the brain

These allow us to see, in neuron-by-neuron detail, the structures responsible for a fly's natural navigation skills, their ability to recognise shapes, and even how they listen to each other's songs.

Since fruit flies are a common animal in research labs all around the world, the researchers believe these insights will yield a deeper understanding of the brain's inner workings.

Co-lead researcher Professor David Bock, of the University of Vermont, says: 'This will inevitably lead to a deeper understanding of how nervous systems process, store and recall information.

'I think this approach points the way forward for the analysis of future whole-brain connectomes, in the fly as well as in other species.'