Wei-Chung Allen Lee
@darbly.bsky.social
circuit motifs of action selection, execution, & refinement | functional connectomics | assoc prof | lee.hms.harvard.edu
Pinned
How is the nervous system organized to coordinate behavior? To approach this massive question, a team led by @asbates.bsky.social, @jasper-tms.bsky.social, @mindyisminsu.bsky.social, & Helen Yang present the BANC: a Brain and Nerve Cord connectome.
Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🧪#Neuroskyence
Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🧪#Neuroskyence
Meet Wangchu and connectomics in the spinal cord this afternoon at LBP077.04 / LBP036 #SFN25
Stop by Wangchu's poster Tuesday (11/18) afternoon to learn about circuit motifs supporting touch processing in the spinal cord.
November 18, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Meet Wangchu and connectomics in the spinal cord this afternoon at LBP077.04 / LBP036 #SFN25
Stop by Wangchu's poster Tuesday (11/18) afternoon to learn about circuit motifs supporting touch processing in the spinal cord.
November 18, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Stop by Wangchu's poster Tuesday (11/18) afternoon to learn about circuit motifs supporting touch processing in the spinal cord.
Reposted by Wei-Chung Allen Lee
Exciting news for #drosophila #connectomics and #neuroscience enthusiasts: the Drosophila male central nervous system connectome is now live for exploration. Find out more at the landing page hosted by our Janelia FlyEM collaborators www.janelia.org/project-team....
Male CNS Connectome
A team of researchers has unveiled the complete connectome of a male fruit fly central nervous system —a seamless map of all the neurons in the brain and nerve cord of a single male fruit fly and the ...
www.janelia.org
October 5, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Exciting news for #drosophila #connectomics and #neuroscience enthusiasts: the Drosophila male central nervous system connectome is now live for exploration. Find out more at the landing page hosted by our Janelia FlyEM collaborators www.janelia.org/project-team....
Reposted by Wei-Chung Allen Lee
It was a good experience to step back and briefly take stock of the amazing progress in connectomics since I started working on this stuff (20 years ago!)
thanks as well to @natrevneuro.nature.com for the constructive editorial interactions.
thanks as well to @natrevneuro.nature.com for the constructive editorial interactions.
August 14, 2025 at 7:40 PM
It was a good experience to step back and briefly take stock of the amazing progress in connectomics since I started working on this stuff (20 years ago!)
thanks as well to @natrevneuro.nature.com for the constructive editorial interactions.
thanks as well to @natrevneuro.nature.com for the constructive editorial interactions.
Reposted by Wei-Chung Allen Lee
X-ray nanotomography can be your new friend for neuronal imaging. In our new #preprint (tinyurl.com/nanoXneuro) we present advances that push the spatial resolution limit for X-ray holographic nanotomography (XNH). We can now resolve synapses. 🧵
February 11, 2025 at 6:25 PM
X-ray nanotomography can be your new friend for neuronal imaging. In our new #preprint (tinyurl.com/nanoXneuro) we present advances that push the spatial resolution limit for X-ray holographic nanotomography (XNH). We can now resolve synapses. 🧵
Reposted by Wei-Chung Allen Lee
My PhD project is out as a preprint!
We combined 2P and synchrotron X-ray to understand mouse olfactory bulb circuits, linking physiology to structure in 3 animals!
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🙌 @carlesbosch.bsky.social, @apacureanu.bsky.social, @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social, @esrf.fr, @crick.ac.uk
We combined 2P and synchrotron X-ray to understand mouse olfactory bulb circuits, linking physiology to structure in 3 animals!
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🙌 @carlesbosch.bsky.social, @apacureanu.bsky.social, @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social, @esrf.fr, @crick.ac.uk
May 1, 2025 at 12:20 PM
My PhD project is out as a preprint!
We combined 2P and synchrotron X-ray to understand mouse olfactory bulb circuits, linking physiology to structure in 3 animals!
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🙌 @carlesbosch.bsky.social, @apacureanu.bsky.social, @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social, @esrf.fr, @crick.ac.uk
We combined 2P and synchrotron X-ray to understand mouse olfactory bulb circuits, linking physiology to structure in 3 animals!
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🙌 @carlesbosch.bsky.social, @apacureanu.bsky.social, @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social, @esrf.fr, @crick.ac.uk
Couldn't agree more. There’s still so much to be uncovered in the dataset.
One thing that wasn’t emphasized before is how it enables access to specific circuit motifs down to identified cells. 12 examples are highlighted in the preprint, but again just the tip of the iceberg.
One thing that wasn’t emphasized before is how it enables access to specific circuit motifs down to identified cells. 12 examples are highlighted in the preprint, but again just the tip of the iceberg.
There is so much to learn from this dataset that it's overwhelming. It feels amazing to connect everything, from the "cognitive" regions of the brain all the way down to muscles, internal organs, and endocrine systems. With the analyses in our preprint, we've only just scratched the surface.
August 10, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Couldn't agree more. There’s still so much to be uncovered in the dataset.
One thing that wasn’t emphasized before is how it enables access to specific circuit motifs down to identified cells. 12 examples are highlighted in the preprint, but again just the tip of the iceberg.
One thing that wasn’t emphasized before is how it enables access to specific circuit motifs down to identified cells. 12 examples are highlighted in the preprint, but again just the tip of the iceberg.
Key annotations from: Tony Azevedo, @tuthill.bsky.social , @zandawala.bsky.social, @hokuba.bsky.social, Steffi Hampel, @andrew-seeds.bsky.social, Kathi Eichler
@jefferis.bsky.social, Michael Pankratz, @fleyes.bsky.social, & Marie Suver.
Renderings by @amysterling.bsky.social and Arie Matsliah
@jefferis.bsky.social, Michael Pankratz, @fleyes.bsky.social, & Marie Suver.
Renderings by @amysterling.bsky.social and Arie Matsliah
August 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Key annotations from: Tony Azevedo, @tuthill.bsky.social , @zandawala.bsky.social, @hokuba.bsky.social, Steffi Hampel, @andrew-seeds.bsky.social, Kathi Eichler
@jefferis.bsky.social, Michael Pankratz, @fleyes.bsky.social, & Marie Suver.
Renderings by @amysterling.bsky.social and Arie Matsliah
@jefferis.bsky.social, Michael Pankratz, @fleyes.bsky.social, & Marie Suver.
Renderings by @amysterling.bsky.social and Arie Matsliah
Neurotransmitter predictions from Kevin Delgado, @adjavon.bsky.social, & @janfunkey.bsky.social . Key analysis from Mohammed Osman. @sdorkenw.bsky.social & Forrest Collman for CAVE. (cont'd 2)
August 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Neurotransmitter predictions from Kevin Delgado, @adjavon.bsky.social, & @janfunkey.bsky.social . Key analysis from Mohammed Osman. @sdorkenw.bsky.social & Forrest Collman for CAVE. (cont'd 2)
Thanks and congratulations to others on the phenomenal team including: Arie Matsliah for Codex, its development, and integration of the BANC. Key technical work from @perlman.bsky.social & Zetta AI. Aelysia for specialist proofreading. (cont'd)
August 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Thanks and congratulations to others on the phenomenal team including: Arie Matsliah for Codex, its development, and integration of the BANC. Key technical work from @perlman.bsky.social & Zetta AI. Aelysia for specialist proofreading. (cont'd)
An incredible collaboration with Rachel Wilson & her lab, Zaki Ajabi & @jdrugowitsch.bsky.social @harvardmed.bsky.social; Mala Murthy, Sebastian Seung, & the FlyWire team @princetonneuro.bsky.social for their huge proofreading effort; and Ryan Maloney & @debivort.bsky.social for the specimen.
August 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
An incredible collaboration with Rachel Wilson & her lab, Zaki Ajabi & @jdrugowitsch.bsky.social @harvardmed.bsky.social; Mala Murthy, Sebastian Seung, & the FlyWire team @princetonneuro.bsky.social for their huge proofreading effort; and Ryan Maloney & @debivort.bsky.social for the specimen.
Our data support an architecture of distributed, parallelized, and embodied control, reminiscent of “subsumption architectures” from autonomous robotics, where behavior-centric feedback loops are organized s that they can be combined or subsumed to generate complex or resolve competing behaviors.
August 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Our data support an architecture of distributed, parallelized, and embodied control, reminiscent of “subsumption architectures” from autonomous robotics, where behavior-centric feedback loops are organized s that they can be combined or subsumed to generate complex or resolve competing behaviors.
* Brain regions involved in learning and navigation supervise these circuits.
August 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
* Brain regions involved in learning and navigation supervise these circuits.
* Long-range pathways are organized to permit coordination within and across modules to fine-tune, prioritize, resolve conflicts, and link related behaviors in sequences. This may offer structural substrates for behavioral compositionality.
August 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
* Long-range pathways are organized to permit coordination within and across modules to fine-tune, prioritize, resolve conflicts, and link related behaviors in sequences. This may offer structural substrates for behavioral compositionality.
* Long-range ascending and descending neurons can combine local loops into behavioral modules.
bsky.app/profile/mott...
bsky.app/profile/mott...
For instance, we can cluster ANs and DNs based on their pre- and postsynaptic connectivity, comparing against those with known functions as well as their influence onto effectors to assign a putative behaviors.
August 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
* Long-range ascending and descending neurons can combine local loops into behavioral modules.
bsky.app/profile/mott...
bsky.app/profile/mott...
Using the this influence metric, we find:
* Local sensorimotor loops linking matched sensors and effectors are basic building blocks of behavioral control.
* Local sensorimotor loops linking matched sensors and effectors are basic building blocks of behavioral control.
August 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Using the this influence metric, we find:
* Local sensorimotor loops linking matched sensors and effectors are basic building blocks of behavioral control.
* Local sensorimotor loops linking matched sensors and effectors are basic building blocks of behavioral control.
Moreover, Zaki Ajabi developed a computationally efficient method for quantifying the “influence” any neuron has on any other neuron in the CNS. We applied this method to estimate the pairwise interactions between all cells in the CNS, amounting to more than 20 billion influence scores.
August 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Moreover, Zaki Ajabi developed a computationally efficient method for quantifying the “influence” any neuron has on any other neuron in the CNS. We applied this method to estimate the pairwise interactions between all cells in the CNS, amounting to more than 20 billion influence scores.
The dataset includes ~160,000 cells, segmented nuclei and mitochondria, synapses and neurotransmitter predictions, and annotations linking the CNS to peripheral sensory, motor, and visceral systems.
Info: banc.community
Data: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc
Viewer: ng.banc.community/view
Info: banc.community
Data: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc
Viewer: ng.banc.community/view
August 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
The dataset includes ~160,000 cells, segmented nuclei and mitochondria, synapses and neurotransmitter predictions, and annotations linking the CNS to peripheral sensory, motor, and visceral systems.
Info: banc.community
Data: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc
Viewer: ng.banc.community/view
Info: banc.community
Data: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc
Viewer: ng.banc.community/view
The BANC is the first connectome that explicitly links the brain to the nerve cord, & through it, to the body. It offers a new “embodied” perspective for connectomes, one that changes how we think about neural networks for control, behavior, & even artificial intelligence.
bsky.app/profile/mott...
bsky.app/profile/mott...
I think the "embodiment" of this connectome is going to be such a hit: For instance take the interactive "body part" maps on Codex, where you can simply click on your favorite external or visceral part and it will show you all of the neurons associated it! codex.flywire.ai/app/body_par...
August 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
The BANC is the first connectome that explicitly links the brain to the nerve cord, & through it, to the body. It offers a new “embodied” perspective for connectomes, one that changes how we think about neural networks for control, behavior, & even artificial intelligence.
bsky.app/profile/mott...
bsky.app/profile/mott...
How is the nervous system organized to coordinate behavior? To approach this massive question, a team led by @asbates.bsky.social, @jasper-tms.bsky.social, @mindyisminsu.bsky.social, & Helen Yang present the BANC: a Brain and Nerve Cord connectome.
Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🧪#Neuroskyence
Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🧪#Neuroskyence
August 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
How is the nervous system organized to coordinate behavior? To approach this massive question, a team led by @asbates.bsky.social, @jasper-tms.bsky.social, @mindyisminsu.bsky.social, & Helen Yang present the BANC: a Brain and Nerve Cord connectome.
Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🧪#Neuroskyence
Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
🧪#Neuroskyence
Thanks to those that supported the work including: @wellcometrust.bsky.social, @klingensteinorg.bsky.social, @simonsfoundation.org, @sloanfoundation.bsky.social, Searle Scholars Program, the Smith Family Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trusts.
August 3, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Thanks to those that supported the work including: @wellcometrust.bsky.social, @klingensteinorg.bsky.social, @simonsfoundation.org, @sloanfoundation.bsky.social, Searle Scholars Program, the Smith Family Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trusts.
These results offer a new view of how host cues are processed in the mosquito brain and comparative and evolutionary perspectives on neuronal circuits.
Congrats to the authors and collaborators including Jialu Bao and Wesley Alford who lead this effort!
Congrats to the authors and collaborators including Jialu Bao and Wesley Alford who lead this effort!
August 3, 2025 at 3:51 AM
These results offer a new view of how host cues are processed in the mosquito brain and comparative and evolutionary perspectives on neuronal circuits.
Congrats to the authors and collaborators including Jialu Bao and Wesley Alford who lead this effort!
Congrats to the authors and collaborators including Jialu Bao and Wesley Alford who lead this effort!
Using a connectome-informed computational model, @briandepasquale.bsky.social showed that recurrent primary sensory connectivity boosts the downstream neurons output under realistic background odor conditions, meaning recurrent synapses make CO₂ detection robust, even in a noisy world.
August 3, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Using a connectome-informed computational model, @briandepasquale.bsky.social showed that recurrent primary sensory connectivity boosts the downstream neurons output under realistic background odor conditions, meaning recurrent synapses make CO₂ detection robust, even in a noisy world.
Compared to recent fruit fly connectomes, this massive increase in recurrent connectivity and ribbon-like synapses was unique to CO₂ circuitry in the mosquito.
August 3, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Compared to recent fruit fly connectomes, this massive increase in recurrent connectivity and ribbon-like synapses was unique to CO₂ circuitry in the mosquito.
At some of these recurrent sensory neuron contacts, we found ribbon-like presynaptic structures, these had previously only been seen in vertebrates. In vertebrate neurons, ribbon synapses are thought to enable sustained or graded transmission. These could further enhance recurrent signaling.
August 3, 2025 at 3:51 AM
At some of these recurrent sensory neuron contacts, we found ribbon-like presynaptic structures, these had previously only been seen in vertebrates. In vertebrate neurons, ribbon synapses are thought to enable sustained or graded transmission. These could further enhance recurrent signaling.