Educator Guide: The Fruit Fly Brain in Exquisite Detail

A diagram showing every nerve cell in a larval fruit fly brain, in all the colors of the rainbow, on a white backdrop — This diagram shows every nerve cell (multicolor) in a larval fruit fly brain, with the spheres representing the cell body and the elongated tails as branches that send and receive information. The connections, known as synapses, aren’t visible here.

Michael Winding

About this guide

Scientists study the tiny fruit fly to understand how organisms work. In this Guide, students will learn how scientists mapped the nerve cells in a larval fruit fly brain — a task that took 12 years — and learn about those cells.

This Guide Includes:

Counting connections in a tiny brain

Students will answer questions about the online Science News article “Scientists have mapped an insect brain in greater detail than ever before,” which explains how researchers approached finding more than 500,000 neural connections in the larval fruit fly brain. A version of the article, “The fruit fly brain in exquisite detail,” appears in the April 22, 2023 issue of Science News.

Studying the brain 101

Students will be introduced to neuroscience by learning about nerve anatomy and physiology, and they will research different methods of studying the brain. Learning Outcomes: Develop an understanding of how scientists approach the study of the brain.