Alexander Shakeel Bates

A small and interesting neural controller for object pursuit on the fly:

Specialized parallel pathways for adaptive control of visual object pursuit To pursue a moving visual object, the brain must generate motor commands that continuously steer the object to the center of the visual field via feedback. The gain of this control loop is flexible, y...

Delighted to share an updated pre-print on how adaptive control in visual pursuit is implemented at the circuit level. New behavior and neuronal data in females (!) shows how two AOTU pathways are key elements in both sexes.

Check it out on @biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social :
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

From the askscience community on Reddit Explore this post and more from the askscience community

We have been answering redditors questions today on the #BANC fly connectome in a public AMA if anyone wants to take a look: www.reddit.com/r/askscience...

We integrated our atlas with the connectome using shared features, such as lineage, segment, molecular info (i.e. neurotransmitter, Notch) and neurogenesis timing. We mapped 122 transcriptional pools, each one containing an average of 26 anatomically defined neuron types. 4/8

With this atlas in place, we mapped sex differences in the atlas and adult connectomes, identifying female-specific apoptosis and transcriptional divergence as drivers of sexually dimorphic development. 7/8

Thanks to all authors and support from #MRC_LMB, @neurohub-cnr.bsky.social , @camzoology.bsky.social , #flyconnectome, @wellcometrust.bsky.social , ‪@erc.europa.eu‬, @astra-zeneca.bsky.social and @cruk-ci.bsky.social. FIN

ALT text: A UMAP representation of a single cell RNAseq dataset from the Drosophila ventral nerve cord as well as images of the Drosophila nerve cord connectome and different stages of fly development.

Neuronal diversity is written in transcriptional codes 🧬. But what is the logic of these codes that define cell types and wiring patterns?
To find out we built a #scRNAseq developmental atlas of the Drosophila nerve cord and linked it to the #connectome 🪰🧠
#preprint thread ⬇️1/8

Fly labs — Now is the time to show some solidarity and chip in support for this vital resource!

The #BANC connectome sample was the best dissection of ~150 by @mindyisminsu.bsky.social! Behaviourally characterised by @debivort.bsky.social lab, microCT used to assess integrity before continuing. Then Minsu and @jasper-tms.bsky.social imaged over ~7 months

Details: github.com/jasper-tms/t...

It’s surreal to think that every neuron and synapse in the fly brain + cord that was dissected almost five years ago (the photo’s still on the lab slack!) is now just a click away on Codex codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc. This wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible team behind it!

The fly #BANC connectome benefits from specialists’ annotations.

@ellenlesser.bsky.social‬ helped us annotate wing sensory neurons and ‪@tony-azevedo.bsky.social‬ wing + other motor neurons, see them here!: ng.banc.community/2025a/wing-n...

In Codex: codex.flywire.ai/app/search?f...

Explore neurons that enter/exit the fly central nervous system by body part with this clickable fly!: codex.flywire.ai/app/body_par...

(graphics: @mottcallie.bsky.social‬, tool: Arie Matisliah)

Vector graphics! github.com/wilson-lab/s...

Effector cells in 3D! ng.banc.community/2025a/effere...

For the BANC, ‪@jasper-tms.bsky.social‬ and I have added layers for neurons in other datasets to our neuroglancer environment. Search by name and see your favourite neurons in the same space! See an example here: ng.banc.community/2025a/DNa01-...

Ah! Wei has already done a great job of this, credits at the end of this thread: bsky.app/profile/darb...

How is the nervous system organized to coordinate behavior? To approach this massive question, a team led by @asbates.bsky.social, @jasper-tms.bsky.social, @mindyisminsu.bsky.social, & Helen Yang present the BANC: a Brain and Nerve Cord connectome.

Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

🧪#Neuroskyence

So happy to share this project detailing fly wing sensory neurons! I started this project just by asking what the axons of the wing chordotonal organ looked like, and I found many other cool structures along the way.

What a joy to work on such an incredibly collaborative project!! Congrats to all who poured time energy and effort into this new resource.

(So excited about this that I had to make a bluesky account!)

The dataset includes ~160,000 cells, segmented nuclei and mitochondria, synapses and neurotransmitter predictions, and annotations linking the CNS to peripheral sensory, motor, and visceral systems.

Info: banc.community
Data: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc
Viewer: ng.banc.community/view

It’s a big project and I’m taking a short holiday now after the preprint! So I’ll make another post later showing all the bits of it, and how we did this as a community !

Flywire collaborators @princetonneuro.bsky.social‬ were essential in building the connectome, and theory collaborators in interpreting it! @jdrugowitsch.bsky.social‬ Art by ‪@amysterling.bsky.social!

A massive community effort, centred on @harvardmed.bsky.social‬
@princetonneuro.bsky.social‬. EM data from @darbly.bsky.social‬ lab, collected by @jasper-tms.bsky.social‬
‪@mindyisminsu.bsky.social‬.

Public access to the first fly connectome that spans the whole CNS - BANC!: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc

Different from prior connectomes - it is brain + cord (think spinal cord)

We use it to ‘embody’ the system and find it resembles ‘subsumption architecture’ doi.org/10.1101/2025...

a man with a mustache in a blue suit says tiny celebration in front of a group of people ALT: a man with a mustache in a blue suit says tiny celebration in front of a group of people

Happy Friday! The female adult fly brain-and-nerve-cord (BANC) connectome is now LIVE!

Explore the data here: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc

Check out the preprint here: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

The first full central nervous system connectome dataset of an adult fly, with the most comprehensive annotation of sensory and motor neurons to date.

A heroic effort with contributions from many groups, a product of the collaborative spirit of the Drosophila neuroscience community.

If you want a narrative version of this project, check out our blog post on the newly re-minted Funke Lab website!
funkelab.github.io/blog/2024/qu...

Thanks to @bobqubit.bsky.social, @asbates.bsky.social, and @jefferis.bsky.social, & @janfunkey.bsky.social for this 🦆ing awesome collaboration!

6/6

With so many new in blue, I thought I would repost this thread about our neurotransmitter prediction across the entire fly brain connectome! Should prove a very useful hypothesis generator for the insect neuroscience community.

In a fly's brain, there are some 140,000 neurons that connect via 54.5 million synapses. Researchers have now mapped *all of them*. That story and more of the best in Science and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🧠

Whole-brain annotation and multi-connectome cell typing of Drosophila Nature - A consensus cell type atlas for the fly brain provides both an intellectual framework and open-source toolchains for brain-scale comparative connectomics.

And our contribution to FlyWire, cell typing the connectome with @jefferis.bsky.social and colleagues, is here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The FlyWire connectome: neuronal wiring diagram of a complete fly brain Artificial intelligence and human expertise meet to generate a map of all the connections in the fly brain. The resource is already being used by experimentalists and theoreticians to further our unde...

Hard to overstate how pleased I am that the FlyWire consortium converted our FAFB ("Full Adult Fly Brain") EM volume into a connectome, and that the resulting science has been (and will be) so impactful. Thanks to everyone involved. #neuroscience www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

Dataset imaging by @dddavi.bsky.social, Zhihao Zheng, image segmentation by Seung group at Princeton, human proofreading an international collaboration, cell typing and meta data building housed mainly at the the University of Cambridge, Dept. Zoology.