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Neural networks mapped in both sexes of the worm

Understanding how the brain’s functions emerge from the workings of neural circuits is a central pursuit of neuroscience. New wiring diagrams of the nervous system in both sexes of a worm mark important progress.
  1. Douglas S. Portman

    1. Douglas S. Portman is in the Department of Biomedical Genetics, Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14642, USA.

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Across biology, function follows form. The structure of a wing provides insight into flight; the anatomy of the lung suggests mechanisms for gas exchange. When applied to the brain, however, this approach falters. The uniform, gelatinous consistency of the mammalian brain belies an almost inconceivable cellular complexity: billions of nerve cells (neurons), interacting through trillions of connections (synapses), form circuits that perceive stimuli, store memories and generate emotions. What if we had a complete map of these connections? Would this help us to understand how the brain works? This is the premise of ‘connectomics’, the systematic identification of all connections in a nervous system. Writing in Nature, Cook et al.1 report the complete connectomes of both sexes of a tiny roundworm — a major step towards understanding how a brain’s function emerges from its form.

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Nature 571, 40-42 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02006-8

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