FlyWire connectome · 138,639 spiking neurons
Real fly brains.
In the driver's seat.
Every fly here is the complete FlyWire connectome of a fruit fly brain, 138,639 neurons and about 15 million connections, simulated spike by spike with the Shiu et al. (2024) leaky integrate-and-fire model. Nothing is trained: sensory events are wired into specific real neuron types, and specific descending neurons drive the controls. What each fly does is what its wiring does.
Featured
The events
Whole competitions decided by spike counts, one 100 ms window at a time.
8 events · 2 parts
Strongman Classic
Part 2 champion: Drosophilippa. Part 1: Drosophilippa.
Eight events in two parts: atlas stones, sugar cube lift, truck pull and tug of war, then keg toss, car push slalom, Hercules hold and arm wrestling. Giant fiber, feeding motor neurons, MDN and the DNa turning neurons do the lifting.
Enter the arena →1 v 1 · 3 rounds
Monster Truck Showdown
Champion: Buzz
Fly brains launch monster trucks off the line, punch the gas as each ramp looms, and fire nitro when a rival is ahead.
Start your engines →6 attempts · 5 fails
Joelio's Garage
It's in!
One fly in coveralls vs. an engine hoist and a 1988 Mazda 323 GTX. The giant fiber makes him flinch; the turning neurons shove the engine straight.
Into the garage →7 flies · 3 rounds
The Thirsty Fly Pint Chug
Champion: Ryan
Malt hits the sugar taste neurons, hops hit the bitter ones, and every feeding-neuron spike is a gulp. Lager, red ale, then stout.
Pull up a stool →3 flies · 2 incidents
Fly NOC: 3 AM On-Call
MVP: Sudo
The pager strobe fires the giant fiber: that is the ACK. Coffee drives the feeding neurons, and every strong burst types one character of the fix.
Answer the page →Gallery
The videos
Each one comes with exactly what is brain and what is game.
Fly brain video
Fruit Fly Street Kings
Four fly brains, four tuner cars, one quarter mile
A night-time street drag race. Each car is driven by a complete FlyWire fruit fly brain, 138,639 spiking neurons, simulated with the Shiu et al. 2024 model. Nothing is trained.
The start is real: the amber lights are weak flashes and the green is a strong flash into the looming neurons, and each car launches when its own fly's giant fiber (the escape reflex) fires hard. Reaction times of 0.028 to 0.031 s come straight from the spike times. When a trailing fly sees a rival's car ahead, LC10 drives DNae002 and it hits the nitrous; the leader never sees anyone ahead, so it never does. The same pursuit reflex steers flies toward rivals, which is how the drafting happens.
Game-side: the car physics, each car's tune, gear shifts and the drafting bonus. Wingo won by 0.100 s. Music: "Cybershaman" by Ruskerdax, CC0.
Fly brain video
Fly Kart
Four fruit fly brains race karts and throw green shells
Each kart is driven by its own complete FlyWire fruit fly brain: 138,639 spiking neurons wired exactly as in the connectome, simulated with the Shiu et al. 2024 model. Nothing is trained.
Walls the kart is heading into drive the fly's looming neurons; a rival ahead drives LC10, the neurons real flies use to chase other flies. Steering comes from the DNa01/DNa02 descending neurons, the shell button is DNae002, and the hop is the giant fiber. We found that in this brain a rival pulls the fly toward it and makes DNae002 fire, so it chases and shoots.
Game-side, not brain: the throttle, rubber-band catch-up, boost pads, and the camera. If a brain tips into runaway firing it is reset and the video says so (none did in this race). Music: "Sky Blue Street" by MintoDog, CC0.
Fly brain video
Fly brain in the loop
Top: full brain. Bottom: same arena, synapses switched off
The simplest version: one fly brain steering a dot. Food touches the sugar taste neurons; obstacles loom on the left or right.
Looming on one side fires the opposite side's steering neurons, so it turns away; close looms fire the giant fiber, so it jumps; sugar drives the feeding motor neurons, so it stops and eats. With the synapses zeroed (bottom) the same fly never turns, never jumps, never eats, and bumps into things 13 times.