Fruit fly brains are smaller than a poppy seed, but that doesn't mean they aren't complex. For the first time, researchers have published a complete diagram of 50 million connections in an adult fruit flies brain. The journal Nature simultaneously published nine papers related to this new brain map. Until now, only a roundworm and a fruit fly larva had been mapped in this way.

Read more of science correspondent Jon Hamilton's reporting here.

Want to know more about the future of brain science? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we might cover it on a future episode!

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy