Science Snapshot: The Connectome Revolution – Seeing the Brain from Within

How do you make sense of a brain with 50 million connections? One powerful approach is to build a connectome – a detailed map of how neurons are wired together. In this short video, researchers from the Champalimaud Foundation explain how they contributed to the FlyWire Consortium’s groundbreaking global effort to reconstruct the first complete connectome of an adult fruit fly brain. Using electron microscopy, AI-based tracing and large-scale international collaboration, scientists created a map that is transforming how researchers study brain function and behaviour. The connectome is already helping researchers identify neural circuits involved in sensation, movement and decision-making – while revealing organisational principles shared across many animal brains, including our own. In recognition of this milestone, connectomics was named Nature Methods’ “Method of the Year” in 2025. About Science Snapshots: Short videos about big discoveries. This series showcases recent breakthroughs from researchers at the Champalimaud Foundation as they explore some of biology’s biggest mysteries. Image credits (in order of appearance): Example Visual-Motor Pathway in the Fruit Fly Imaged at Janelia and analysed by the FlyEM Project Team at Janelia, University of Cambridge, MRC LMB and Google Research. Video by Philip Hubbard and Alexandra Fragniere. Advanced Spelunker: Color Picker Tips FlyWire Princeton YouTube Channel. Screen capture by Celia David. Male Fruit Fly CNS Cell Types Imaged at Janelia and analysed by the FlyEM Project Team at Janelia, University of Cambridge, MRC LMB and Google Research. Video by Philip Hubbard. Flytastic Voyage from the Optic Lobe to the Central Brain Video by Raphael Levisse and Amy Sterling. The Connectome of the Drosophila Larval Brain Courtesy of MRC | University of Cambridge. The FlyWire Connectome Render by Tyler Sloan. Edited by Amy Sterling. The 50 Largest Neurons on FlyWire Render by Philipp Schlegel. Colour-Enhanced Scanning Electron Micrograph of Drosophila melanogaster © David Scharf, www.scharfphoto.com #Connectomics #Neuroscience #BrainScience #Drosophila #FlyWire