Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Matt Collie @mottcallie.bsky.social · 2d

😍

Greg Jefferis @jefferis.bsky.social · 2d

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

1

Reposted by Matt Collie

Bence Ölveczky @olveczky.bsky.social · Aug 25

Wrote a eulogy for the yellow letters in my office window. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

My Lab Displayed A Message of Solidarity on Our Windows. Harvard Took It Down. | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson

If we continue down this path, we risk not only Harvard’s future as an institution of free inquiry and expression but also its integrity and trustworthiness.

www.thecrimson.com

4 52 120

Reposted by Matt Collie

Philipp Brand @pbrand.bsky.social · Aug 21

Exciting new Ruta lab preprint by @annaryba.bsky.social et al. on the neural underpinnings of intraspecific behavioral variation: Strain variation identifies a neural substrate for behavioral evolution Drosophila

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Strain variation identifies a neural substrate for behavioral evolution in Drosophila

Sexual selection acts on heritable differences within species, driving the parallel diversification of signal production in one sex and behavioral responses in the other. This coevolution implies that...

www.biorxiv.org

1 17 27

Reposted by Matt Collie

Greg Jefferis @jefferis.bsky.social · Aug 21

Neuronal diversity is written in transcriptional codes 🧬. But what is the logic of these codes that define cell types and wiring patterns?
To find out we built a #scRNAseq developmental atlas of the Drosophila nerve cord and linked it to the #connectome 🪰🧠
#preprint thread ⬇️1/8

ALT text: A UMAP representation of a single cell RNAseq dataset from the Drosophila ventral nerve cord as well as images of the Drosophila nerve cord connectome and different stages of fly development.

6 56 110

Reposted by Matt Collie

Bence Ölveczky @olveczky.bsky.social · Aug 21

And now for an update on my office window. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Harvard To Remove Black Lives Matter Message From Biology Professors’ Office Windows | News | The Harvard Crimson

A Harvard administrator told two professors on Tuesday that a Black Lives Matter sign displayed in their office windows would be taken down by this Saturday, describing it as a violation of the Univer...

www.thecrimson.com

14 80 180

Reposted by Matt Collie

FlyBase @flybase.bsky.social · Aug 15

FlyBase needs your help! We ask that European labs continue to contribute to Cambridge, UK FlyBase, whereas US and other non-European labs can contribute to US FlyBase. For more information and how to donate: wiki.flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase...

FlyBase:Contribute to FlyBase - FlyBase Wiki

wiki.flybase.org

3 160 130

Reposted by Matt Collie

Minsu Kim @mindyisminsu.bsky.social · Aug 5

It’s surreal to think that every neuron and synapse in the fly brain + cord that was dissected almost five years ago (the photo’s still on the lab slack!) is now just a click away on Codex codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc. This wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible team behind it!

1 9 35

Matt Collie @mottcallie.bsky.social · Aug 4

Like c'mon this is both accurate and comedic gold.

3

Matt Collie @mottcallie.bsky.social · Aug 4

We need more papers that start with Steve Urkel quotes. Thank you @kylethieringer.com and @tuthill.bsky.social for this wonderful and fun review of our recent paper describing limb feedback in the visual system!

doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

1 3 8

Reposted by Matt Collie

rachelirenewilson.bsky.social @rachelirenewilson.bsky.social · Aug 3

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.

4 13

Matt Collie @mottcallie.bsky.social · Aug 3

Congratulations! This is such an awesome resource.

4

Matt Collie @mottcallie.bsky.social · Aug 3

I am living for this electricity animation.

1 3

Reposted by Matt Collie

Wei-Chung Allen Lee @darbly.bsky.social · Aug 3

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.

Schematic example of subsumption architecture. This example has two local loops (behavior 1 and behavior 2), corresponding e.g.
the control of individual legs. Behavior 3 is positioned to take control of both local loops (subsumption), contingent on some input from
both sensors. Behavior 4 is positioned to subsume all other behaviors, based on some other input from both sensors.

1 2 7

Reposted by Matt Collie

Wei-Chung Allen Lee @darbly.bsky.social · Aug 3

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.

Cartoon of directed network graph and schematic depicting the influence of source cells on target cells is estimated via linear dynamical modeling.

1 2 6

Reposted by Matt Collie

Wei-Chung Allen Lee @darbly.bsky.social · Aug 3

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

4 59 130

Reposted by Matt Collie

Meg Younger @megyounger.bsky.social · Jul 31

New preprint from @darbly.bsky.social‬ @briandepasquale.bsky.social‬ and my labs! If you love (or hate) mosquitoes, have a look:

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

We used TEM to describe the circuitry used for CO2 detection by mosquitoes. As usual with mosquitoes, nothing is as expected! 🌬️🦟

Recurrent connectivity supports carbon dioxide sensitivity in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

The mosquito Aedes aegypti′s human host-seeking behavior depends on the integration of multiple sensory cues. One of these cues, carbon dioxide (CO2), gates odorant and heat pathways and activates hos...

doi.org

3 14 33

Reposted by Matt Collie

Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Aug 2

Public access to the first fly connectome that spans the whole CNS - BANC!: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc

Different from prior connectomes - it is brain + cord (think spinal cord)

We use it to ‘embody’ the system and find it resembles ‘subsumption architecture’ doi.org/10.1101/2025...

3 35 88

Reposted by Matt Collie

Wei-Chung Allen Lee @darbly.bsky.social · Aug 3

With @megyounger.bsky.social's lab, et al., we present the first connectomics work in the disease-vector mosquito Aedes aegypti, revealing how its brain is wired to detect host cues.

Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

#Neuroscience #Connectomics #vEM #VectorBiology 🧪

Diagrams (top-left) of an adult female Ae. aegypti head and (bottom) a basiconic sensillum on maxillary palp (gray) which contain dendritic processes of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs), including CO2-sensitive Gr3-expressing OSNs. OSN axons project centrally to the antennal lobes in the brain. On the right is a volumetric rendering of the mosquito brain neuropils including the antennal lobes (light blue) (Heinze et al., 2021; Matthews et al., 2019). Scale bar 100 μm.

1 24 59

Reposted by Matt Collie

Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · Aug 2

A massive community effort, centred on @harvardmed.bsky.social‬
@princetonneuro.bsky.social‬. EM data from @darbly.bsky.social‬ lab, collected by @jasper-tms.bsky.social‬
‪@mindyisminsu.bsky.social‬.

1 3 5

Reposted by Matt Collie

Dionnet L Bhatti Mazo @victoryofflight.bsky.social · Jun 16

Our new preprint: 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞-𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

We describe how the LS guides defensive responses by forming critical computations built from functionally and molecularly distinct cells and their afferent inputs.

www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-6...

Feature-specific threat coding in lateral septum guides defensive action

The ability to rapidly detect and evaluate potential threats is essential for survival and requires the integration of sensory information, with internal state and prior experience. The lateral septum...

www.researchsquare.com

4 10 22

Reposted by Matt Collie

John Tuthill @tuthill.bsky.social · Aug 1

The first full central nervous system connectome dataset of an adult fly, with the most comprehensive annotation of sensory and motor neurons to date.

A heroic effort with contributions from many groups, a product of the collaborative spirit of the Drosophila neuroscience community.

Matt Collie @mottcallie.bsky.social · Aug 1

Happy Friday! The female adult fly brain-and-nerve-cord (BANC) connectome is now LIVE!

Explore the data here: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc

Check out the preprint here: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

a man with a mustache in a blue suit says tiny celebration in front of a group of people

ALT: a man with a mustache in a blue suit says tiny celebration in front of a group of people

media.tenor.com

1 12 40

Matt Collie @mottcallie.bsky.social · Aug 1

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...

15 27

Matt Collie @mottcallie.bsky.social · Aug 1

If it takes a village, this took an empire. So many people across many institutes put in insane effort and countless hours proofreading neurons, identifying cell types, generating analysis packages, analyzing circuit motifs, etc. Such a joy to be a small part of this collaborative effort.

2

Matt Collie @mottcallie.bsky.social · Aug 1

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.

1 3

Matt Collie @mottcallie.bsky.social · Aug 1

Here, we report the first unified and embodied (connected to effectors) brain-and-cord connectome of an adult fly. To analyze this massive dataset, we develop an influence metric to predict the functional connection between any pair of cells, revealing underlying control architecture.

1 2