Researchers complete male fruit-fly brain map

Researchers announced completion of a map of every neuron in a male fruit fly brain, adding a second complete Drosophila connectome after a female brain map was completed earlier this year. The effort combined biological preparation at HHMI's Janelia Research Campus with image interpretation by Google computer scientists. The resulting map covers hundreds of millions of synapses and is intended as a tool for neurobiology research. The teams also refined methods they expect could be applied to more complex nervous systems, potentially including vertebrates.