From Connectome to Computation: Linking Circuits and Behavior in the Fly

Imagine trying to navigate a new city without a map. Neuroscience has faced a similar challenge: understanding brain function without knowing its full wiring diagram. Recently, Mala Murthy’s lab at Princeton University co-led a large collaborative effort to generate the first complete map of the Drosophila brain.

In this Presidential Lecture, Murthy will describe how her group is using this connectome to explore how information flows through the brain and drives behavior. Focusing on social communication, she will discuss how flies process signals from partners, make decisions and generate flexible actions. Her lab aims to bridge the gap between brain structure and the dynamic computations that support behavior by combining large-scale neural recordings, genetic circuit tools, quantitative behavioral analysis and computational modeling.