Fly brains in the computer
They take shape on the computer screens of researchers in Würzburg: the brains of countless fruit flies. Comparing these organs is said to result in new knowledge about brain functions. Anatomy on the computer - that is the focus of the new national research network Virtual Brain at the University of Würzburg: Brain data is generated from insects and small mammals, which are then reconstructed into three-dimensional models with the help of powerful computers. New software should make it possible to visualize and compare the models in order to ultimately be able to further research the function of the brain based on its structure.
At the Department of Genetics, scientists have started to dissect, stain and reconstruct the entire brain of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). Until a few years ago, such three-dimensional models could only be reconstructed in a time-consuming manner and with great experimental effort - from long series of wafer-thin sections. Today, on the other hand, confocal microscopy is available. It makes it possible to create series of cuts optically very quickly and to reassemble them into whole brains just as quickly.
The amount of data generated is enormous, similar to magnetic resonance imaging. Therefore, new methods are needed to efficiently process and visualize the data. Together with the Konrad Zuse computer center in Berlin, the Würzburg researchers have already taken the first steps towards being able to display and compare several reconstructed brains. Because the geneticists are not only interested in a single brain, but in the differences between many brains - after all, the "command center" is not an identical "hard-wired" circuit for all flies. The brain differs from fly to fly and even changes during the life of a single fly. As is becoming increasingly clear, this plasticity is also the basis of learning ability and memory.
