A group of international scientists recently announced they had made a map of the whole "brain" of an adult fruit fly. 一组国际科学家最近宣布，他们绘制了一只成年果蝇的整个“大脑”的地图。 They said the milestone would provide new knowledge about the brains of all animals including humans.他们表示，这一里程碑式的发现将提供关于包括人类在内的所有动物大脑的新知识。 The research gives details of more than 50 million connections between 139,000 neurons, which are nerve cells in the brain of the fruit fly.这项研究提供了139000个神经元之间超过5000万个连接的细节，这些神经元是果蝇大脑中的神经细胞。 The scientific name of the animal is Drosophila melanogaster.这种动物的学名是果蝇。 It is often used in scientific experiments, especially studies of nerve cells.它经常被用来进行科学实验，特别是神经细胞的研究。 The researchers wanted to find out exactly how the brain cells operate when they are healthy and normal.研究人员想弄明白在健康和正常的情况下脑细胞是如何运作的。 Sebastian Seung was one of the leaders of the research, which was published as a series of studies in Nature.Sebastian Seung是这项研究的领导者之一，该研究作为一系列研究发表在《自然》杂志上。 Seung is a professor at Princeton University in New Jersey.Seung是新泽西州普林斯顿大学的教授。 He said, "You might be asking why we should care about the brain of a fruit fly. My simple answer is that if we can truly understand how any brain functions, it's bound to tell us something about all brains."他说：“你可能会问我们为什么要关心果蝇的大脑。简单来说就是，如果我们能彻底弄明白某种大脑的功能，那它一定可以告诉我们一些关于所有大脑的信息。” The brain of a fruit fly is small — less than one millimeter wide.果蝇的大脑很小，不到一毫米宽。 But some scientists are very interested in them.但是一些科学家对它们非常感兴趣。 "It's beautiful," said Cambridge researcher Gregory Jefferis.剑桥大学的研究员格雷戈里·杰弗里斯说：“太美了。” The researchers created what they called a "wiring diagram" of an adult fruit fly. It is also called a "connectome" map.研究人员创造了他们所说的成年果蝇的“接线图”。它也被称为“连接体”地图。 The goal was to create a map that shows how neurons connect to one another and how they operate.其目标是创建一个地图，显示神经元是如何相互连接以及它们是如何运作的。 Similar research has been done with simpler forms of life.科学家们也对更简单的生命形式进行了类似的研究。 For example, scientists have mapped the "brain" of a worm called Caenorhabditis elegans.例如，科学家们绘制了秀丽隐杆线虫的“大脑”。 They have also mapped the neural material of the larval form of the fruit fly. But the adult fruit fly was more complex.他们还绘制了果蝇幼虫的神经物质图谱。但成年果蝇更为复杂。 The idea was to link the neural connections to the behavior of the animal.这个想法是将神经连接与动物的行为联系起来。 Mala Murthy was another co-leader of the research from Princeton.来自普林斯顿的玛拉·穆尔蒂是该研究的另一位联合负责人。 Murthy said, "One of the major questions we're addressing is how the wiring in the brain, its neurons and connections, can give rise to animal behavior."穆尔蒂说：“我们正在解决的一个主要问题是，大脑中的线路、神经元和连接是如何引发动物行为的。” One of the studies in the series examined the brain circuits involved in walking. It discovered how flies halt.该系列研究中的一项研究测验了与行走有关的大脑回路。它发现了果蝇是如何停下来的。 Another studied the fly's network of neurons associated with tasting and also grooming circuits.另一项研究研究了果蝇与味觉和梳理回路相关的神经元网络。 These circuits are behind the behavior in which a fly uses its leg to remove dirt from antennae on its head.这些回路导致了果蝇用腿清除头上触角上的污垢这种行为。 One of the studies examined how a fly processes motion and color information.其中一项研究调查了果蝇如何处理移动和颜色信息。 And still another looked closely at how parts of the fly's brain were connected.还有一项研究仔细研究了果蝇大脑的各个部分是如何连接的。 That study discovered that a large group of neurons called "hub neurons" might help speed up the flow of information.该研究发现，一大群被称为“中枢神经元”的神经元或许有助于加速信息的流动。 The researchers created the map by following how both sides of the brain were organized and linked the circuits they identified to behaviors.研究人员通过跟踪大脑两侧的组织方式，并将他们识别的回路与行为联系起来，绘制了这张地图。 They also identified classes of cells in the fly's brain and examined the chemical connections between neurons known as synapses.他们还确定了果蝇大脑中的细胞类别，并检查了神经元之间被称为突触的化学连接。 The international collaboration of scientists called FlyWire Consortium carried out the research.国际科学家合作组织FlyWire Consortium进行了这项研究。 I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.小马里奥·里特为您播报。
