Connectome-constrained fruit fly brain gets a simulated body you can watch live all day
ostrisai · x · 2026-09-12
Researcher Misch Strotz wired a connectome-constrained model of the Drosophila optic lobe (Janelia FlyEM MaleCNS v1.0) into a NeuroMechFly/flygym body inside a shared 3D kitchen room, streamed live at fruitflysimulator.com.
Key details:
- Compound-eye columns follow MaleCNS retinotopy; synaptic wiring computes local motion; locomotion uses published visuomotor reflexes
- The body simulates hemolymph (trehalose, fat, crop, water, gut): hunger runs through AKH/octopamine, a full crop releases drosulfakinin and insulin-like peptides
- Antennae smell food and fecal cVA, tarsi taste sugar, temperature preference near 25°C, dust triggers grooming, a full rectum leaves spots, and sleep pressure plus a circadian clock follow a real day
- Nothing is timed or teleported: the fly acts purely on what it senses and what's in its blood
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