Video: Piecing together a confocal map of the fly ventral nerve cord
A silent HHMI video showing confocal microscopy images of fruit fly neurons combined, piece by piece, into a rough map of the ventral nerve cord — the insect equivalent of a spinal cord.
HHMI has released a short, silent video showing confocal microscopy images of fruit fly neurons, captured and combined by researchers at Janelia Research Campus, being pieced together like a puzzle to build a rough map of the ventral nerve cord (VNC) — the insect equivalent of a spinal cord, which coordinates walking, flying and reflexes.
Each individually imaged neuron is dazzling on its own; the video’s point is how, layered together, these confocal images start to reveal the overall structure and organisation of the VNC as a coordinating hub for locomotion and reflex behaviour, complementing the electron-microscopy-based VNC connectomes.
This kind of ventral nerve cord data is among the resources integrated into Virtual Fly Brain alongside our other connectomics resources, letting anyone query, browse and analyse it interactively.
Video: “Piecing Together the Fly Nerve Cord”, © Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).