A high-quality connectome of the complete adult Drosophila central nervous system

Building on advances during our successful connectomics collaboration (2016-20), we now propose a very ambitious new goal: a complete, high-quality connectome for the male Drosophila central nervous system (CNS). With Wellcome support and leveraging Janelia’s unique electron microscopy imaging capability, we could turn image data into a fully analysed connectome. This would be the first CNS connectome of an animal with complex motor and cognitive behaviours. In contrast to existing fly datasets, it will be bilaterally complete, include brain and nerve cord and have intact sensory-motor connectivity. This connectome should have an enormous impact on the understanding of CNS-spanning circuitry underlying complex behaviour. We will publicly release initial draft and high-quality versions as soon as they are complete. We will immediately use it to study multisensory integration, memory recall, decision making, modification of brain states, the flexible organisation of motor behaviour, and sexually dimorphic circuits. It will provide a critical resource for >200 labs worldwide studying Drosophila neurobiology (with impacts on developmental biology and molecular cell atlases) and provide new opportunities for theoretical neuroscientists to study complete, biologically-defined neural networks in a richly investigated organism. We expect general principles, applicable to all nervous systems, including those of humans, to emerge.