Educator Guide: The Fruit Fly Brain in Exquisite Detail

This diagram shows every nerve cell (multicolor) in a larval fruit fly brain, with the spheres representing the cell body and the elongated tails as branches that send and receive information. The connections, known as synapses, aren’t visible here.
Michael Winding
About this guide
Scientists study the tiny fruit fly to understand how organisms work. In this Guide, students will learn how scientists mapped the nerve cells in a larval fruit fly brain — a task that took 12 years — and learn about those cells.
This Guide Includes:
Studying the brain 101
Sign up if you’re interested in receiving free Science News magazines plus educator resources next school year. The Society for Science’s Science News Learning program serves nearly 5,000 public high schools across the United States and worldwide.