Neuroscience · Database
FlyWire
A whole-brain connectome resource providing proofread neurons, synapses, and annotations for adult Drosophila.
What FlyWire is
FlyWire is a neuroinformatics resource providing a whole-brain connectome of an adult female fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). Built from the Full Adult Fly Brain (FAFB) electron microscopy volume, the resource encompasses 139,255 proofread neurons, over 50 million synapses, and hierarchical annotations across the central brain and optic lobes.
The connectome was developed by the FlyWire Consortium, an international collaboration coordinated by Princeton University, the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, the University of Vermont, and the Allen Institute for Brain Science, alongside expert and citizen-science proofreaders. It resolves the challenge of mapping complete circuit connectivity across an entire complex brain by combining artificial intelligence segmentation with systematic human proofreading.
Researchers can access FlyWire to analyse end-to-end neural pathways, identify specific cell types, query synaptic partners, and investigate circuit architectures underlying behaviours such as navigation, vision, feeding, and motor control.
How it is organised
FlyWire originated from high-resolution electron microscopy image data acquired by the Bock lab and aligned by the Bock and Saalfeld labs at Janelia Research Campus. The Murthy and Seung labs at Princeton University subsequently re-aligned the volume and applied artificial intelligence algorithms to automatically segment cells and reconstruct individual neuronal morphologies.
Putative synapses and postsynaptic tags were automatically detected across the volume, while neurotransmitter identities were assigned computationally. The initial automated reconstructions were then curated and corrected through an interactive platform by hundreds of FlyWire Consortium members and proofreading teams. The curated connectome, associated cell typings, hierarchical classifications, and 3D neuropil surfaces are indexed in the public release (v783) and made explorable via tools such as Codex and Zenodo connection tables.
Key facts
- Organism
- Adult female fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster)
- Dataset edition
- FAFB, public release v783
- Reconstructed neurons
- 139,255 proofread neurons
- Synapse count
- Over 50 million putative synapses
- Connection table
- 3.7 million connections
- Neuropil surfaces
- 78 neuropil surfaces
- Core consortium leads
- Princeton University, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Vermont, and Allen Institute for Brain Science
What you can use it for
- Sensorimotor Circuit Tracing
- Trace complete neural circuits from sensory inputs to descending motor pathways across the central brain and optic lobes.
- Cell Type Classification
- Identify and catalog neurons using hierarchical classifications, hemilineages, side attributes, and predicted neurotransmitters.
- Network and Graph Analysis
- Query the 3.7-million-connection table to study circuit topologies, connectivity motifs, and whole-brain network properties.
- Visual System Mapping
- Investigate wiring diagrams and synaptic partnerships within visual processing circuits across the fly optic lobe.
Query it here
The research agent queries FlyWire directly — no account, no API key — and every answer links back to the record it came from. Ask in plain language and it writes the query.
Strengths and limits
Good at
- Provides a complete, proofread whole-brain connectome spanning 139,255 neurons in a single adult fly brain.
- Pairs extensive morphological skeletons with predicted neurotransmitters and over 50 million annotated synapses.
- Features comprehensive hierarchical annotations, hemilineage assignments, and cell typing across both the central brain and optic lobes.
Watch out for
- Neurotransmitter identities and putative synaptic tags are largely automated predictions rather than experimentally verified labels.
- Represents a single female adult fly specimen (FAFB), omitting individual or sexual variability within the primary dataset release.
Questions
Can I search FlyWire without writing code?
Yes. The research agent queries FlyWire directly, with no account or API key, and cites the record behind every answer. Ask in plain language — for a gene, a protein, a compound or a study — and it builds the query for you.
Can I reuse data from FlyWire?
CC BY-NC 4.0. Cite Dorkenwald et al. 2024 for the connectome and Schlegel et al. 2024 for the annotations. Neuropil surfaces are Ito et al. 2014 transformed into FlyWire space by fafbseg-py (BSD-3). Terms: https://flywire.ai/tos
What brain structures are included in FlyWire?
FlyWire encompasses the entire adult female fly brain, including the central brain, 78 neuropils, and the intrinsic neurons of both optic lobes.
How are neurotransmitter types identified?
Dominant neurotransmitters are assigned computationally for most neurons using automated prediction pipelines integrated into the platform.
How can researchers query the connectivity data?
Researchers can explore the connectome interactively using the Codex web tool or retrieve the full 3.7-million-connection table deposited on Zenodo for programmatic queries.
How to cite it
Dorkenwald et al., Neuronal wiring diagram of an adult brain, Nature, 2024.
Written from FlyWire's own website and reference material. Statements citing a figure that does not appear there are removed before publication. Licence and running details come from our registry.