Researchers have created the most complex map of brain connections to date. Much remains to be done to unravel the mysteries of the brain.
Researchers are still trying to understand the structure of the brain human beings, mapping it from all angles, in ever greater detail, but they still have a hard time processing all this data effectively. For that it is necessary a connection map.
Researchers have created the most complex map of brain connections yet
Today, scientists have created such a map for a fairly basic creature, but it is the most advanced to date to qualify, a fruit fly larva. Called a connectome, this blueprint offers a view of the connections between the creature’s 3,016 neurons and 548,000 synapses, as explained Neuroscience News. This map will help researchers better understand how the brains of insects and animals control their behavior, learning, bodily functions and more. This work could even inspire new AI networks.
“Until now, we had never seen the structure of a brain, except that of the parasite C. elegansthe tadpole of a chordate and the larva of a marine annelid, which have only a few hundred neurons,” said Professor Marta Zlatic of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. “This means that neuroscience works virtually without any connection map. Without knowing the structure of a brain, we can only guess how the calculations are implemented. But today we can envision a mechanical understanding of how the brain works.”
To develop this mapping, the team scanned thousands of sections of the brains of these larvae with an electron microscope to integrate them into a detailed map, annotating all the neural connections. From there, the experts used computer tools to identify possible information flows and types of “circuit patterns” in the insects’ brains. They even noticed that some structural features looked suspiciously like well-known deep learning architectures.
There is still a lot to be done to unravel the mysteries of the brain
Scientists have made detailed maps of a fruit fly brain, much more complex than that of a fruit fly larva. However, these maps do not have all the detailed connections needed to get a real connectome of their brain.
Now the team will investigate the structures used for behavioral functions like learning and decision-making, and examine connectome activity as the insect performs specific tasks. And while the fruit fly larva is a very simple insect, researchers hope to find similar patterns in other animals. “Just as genes are conserved throughout the animal kingdom, I think the basic circuit patterns that implement these fundamental behaviors will also be conserved,” said Marta Zlatic.