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Flies are key to human learning

How the fly brain operates opens doors to our understanding of the way humans navigate through the world

Published in Neuroscience

Go to the profile of Leonie Kirszenblat
Leonie Kirszenblat
Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland
Flies are key to human learning
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This donut-like structure of the fly brain is important for learning, memory and selective attention. The coloured dots highlighted within this structure indicate synapses, the connections between the neurons that allows the neurons to communicate with one another and perform complex behaviours like navigation. It is likely that the way in which this simple circuit in the fly brain operates may be the key to how our own brain operates, for example how we pay attention to some things and not others, and how we navigate our world and our thoughts.

Image Credit: Dr Leonie Kirszenblat, Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Dr Nick Valmas, Graphics Designer, the Queensland Brain Institute.

This image was originally posted via Instagram and is republished with permission by the Queensland Brain Institute, the University of Queensland. 

Go to the profile of Leonie Kirszenblat
Leonie Kirszenblat
Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland

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