Diverse Community Structures in the Neuronal-Level Connectome of the Drosophila Brain

In this study, we constructed a neuron-to-neuron network of theDrosophila brain based on the 28,573 fluorescence images of single neurons in the newly releasedFlyCircuit v1.2 (http://www.flycircuit.tw) database. By performing modularity and centrality analyses, we identified eight communities (right olfaction, left olfaction, olfactory core, auditory, motor, pre-motor, left vision, and right vision) in the brain-wide network. Further investigation on information exchange and structural stability revealed that the communities of different functions dominated different types of centralities, suggesting a correlation between functions and network structures. Except for the two olfaction and the motor communities, the network is characterized by overall small-worldness. A rich club (RC) structure was also found in this network, and most of the innermost RC members innervated the central complex, indicating its role in information integration. We further identified numerous loops with length smaller than seven neurons. The observation suggested unique characteristics in the information processing inside the fruit fly brain.
Source: Neuroinformatics - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research