Media

The images and videos in this gallery are published under a CC-BY license – feel free to re-use with attribution. Suggestions for credits can be found in the descriptions.

FlyWire 🪰

Images and videos¹ below were generated by Philipp Schlegel using data from the FlyWire brain connectome. Click on the thumbnails for a more detailed description including credits.

Journey inside a fly’s brain: From the surface to the intricate neuronal network revealed by the FlyWire connectome in stunning 3D detail. Data source: FlyWire.ai; Fly model licensed from Hidalgo lab (University of Birmingham). Rendering by Philipp Schlegel (University of Cambridge/MRC LMB).

3D rendering of all ~140k neurons in the fruit fly brain. Data source: FlyWire.ai; Rendering by Philipp Schlegel (University of Cambridge/MRC LMB).

3D rendering of the 8k visual projection neurons connecting the fly’s visual system to the central brain. Data source: FlyWire.ai; Rendering by Philipp Schlegel (University of Cambridge/MRC LMB).

3D rendering of the ~500 visual centrifugal neurons providing feedback to the fly’s visual system. Data source: FlyWire.ai; Rendering by Philipp Schlegel (University of Cambridge/MRC LMB).

3D rendering of the 17k sensory neurons providing input to the fly’s brain. Colours correspond to the nerve through which they project. Data source: FlyWire.ai; Rendering by Philipp Schlegel (University of Cambridge/MRC LMB).

3D rendering of all ~140k neurons in the fruit fly brain. The video successively cuts into the brain showing the area where neurons make connections. Data source: FlyWire.ai; Rendering by Philipp Schlegel (University of Cambridge/MRC LMB).

3D rendering of all ~75k neurons in the fly’s visual system. Data source: FlyWire.ai; Rendering by Philipp Schlegel (University of Cambridge/MRC LMB).

3D rendering of the ~100 motor neurons of the fruit fly brain. These neurons control the fly’s mouth parts. The colours correspond to the nerve they project through. Data source: FlyWire.ai; Rendering by Philipp Schlegel (University of Cambridge/MRC LMB).

3D rendering of the 80 endocrine neurons of the fruit fly brain. These neurons release neurohormones such as insulin-like peptides into the fly’s hemolymph. Data source: FlyWire.ai; Rendering by Philipp Schlegel (University of Cambridge/MRC LMB).

3D rendering of the 1.3k “descending” neurons in the fruit fly brain. These neurons relay information from the brain to the fly’s nerve cord and control e.g. flying or walking. Data source: FlyWire.ai; Rendering by Philipp Schlegel (University of Cambridge/MRC LMB).

Illustration of a filter query made possible by the annotation hierarchy presented in Schlegel et al., Nature (2024). Data source: FlyWire.ai; Rendering by Philipp Schlegel (University of Cambridge/MRC LMB).

3D rendering of the 32k central brain-intrinsic neurons of the fruit fly brain. Data source: FlyWire.ai; Rendering by Philipp Schlegel (University of Cambridge/MRC LMB).

3D rendering of 2.3k “ascending” neurons in the fruit fly brain. These neurons relay information from the fly’s nerve cord to the brain. Data source: FlyWire.ai; Rendering by Philipp Schlegel (University of Cambridge/MRC LMB).

1. Both images and videos are in 4k high-resolution – you may have to download them to see the full resolution. If videos stutter during playback, try downloading and playing them on your own machine. ↩︎