Neuron of the Month

by Imaan Tamimi Reporting from lockdown with the Neuron Of The Month, we have a Lateral Horn Output Neuron (LHON) called AV6a3. Neurons communicate with one another through their dendrites and axons. Dendrites (cyan) are projections that receive inputs (cyan spheres) from other neurons, while axons (red) are projections that […]

By Irene Varela February’s neuron of the month is a type of sexually dimorphic neuron known as an aSP-g. In females, aSP-g neurons extend their dendrites (bright green) throughout the lateral horn (yellow), a higher olfactory centre for innate behaviour, whereas in males they do not. This morphological difference explains […]

By Konrad Heinz September’s neuron of the month is a B’2a PAM DAN – it is a dopaminergic neuron of the mushroom body. The mushroom body (MB, shown in pink) is a major site of olfactory learning in the fly brain, and dopaminergic neurons (DANs), which release the widely conserved […]

By Fiona Love August’s neuron of the month is a large lateral horn (LH) output neuron. Thanks to the resolution of the FAFB data set, we can annotate individual synapses, which tells us how this neuron is carrying information across the brain. This neuron gets most of its input in […]

By Philipp Schlegel June’s neuron of the month is one of the excitatory uniglomerular olfactory projection neurons (PN). It receives input from Or82a-expressing sensory neurons in the VA6 glomerulus of the antennal lobe and responds to e.g. ethyl butyrate, a fruity odour. This PN is exemplary for the successful collaboration […]

By A Edmondson-Stait May’s neuron of the month is an ascending neuron relaying information from the subesophageal zone (SEZ) to the superior medial protocerebrum (SMP). The SEZ receives gustatory input from gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs). Axonal projections from GRNs conveying bitter or sweet taste are spatially segregated in the SEZ. […]

By Ruairi Roberts April’s neuron of the month is a novel projection neuron relaying putative mechanosensory information from ventral to dorsal neuropils – the lateral horn (LH) and superior intermediate protocerebrum (SIP). The LH receives extensive olfactory input and recent work from the connectomics group in collaboration with the Jefferis […]