Eyewire Academy: Test Answers!

Hello Eyewirers!

Whether you finished all 5 of our test exams, or did none at all, we know you’re curious to find out the answers to the test questions!

We had some very knowledgable participants, and if you study this answer sheet carefully you too can be an Eyewire trivia expert!

Note to those who participated in our test – Eyewire Academy has a very high barrier to entry! Our student with the highest score got 84% of questions correct! If you scored a passing grade of 70% or higher, give yourself a pat on the back because this one took a lot of hard studying and an unmatched knowledge of all aspects of Eyewire, from the science to the community! Even those who scored below 70% clearly made a good effort and were well versed in many aspects of Eyewire. Also, we hope you had fun and maybe learned something new!

Swag update: Since a number of our players who would have won magnets from these quizzes ended winning magnets in other events we’ve decided to award magnets to everyone who completed all 5 quizzes. So if you attempted all 5 quizzes, you’ll be getting a magnet (whether from this or another event in the competition)!

Now without further ado, here are the answers to all quiz questions:

Accuracy Happy Hour

• How many cubes did Eyewire’s biggest cell have? -Artifact 3.1 with 4147 cubes!
  We do have an old blog post stating that our biggest cell was Lightning 118 with 4212 cubes. However, based on recalculation with consideration for stashed cubes, our biggest cell is actually Artifact 3.1! We took into account both cube totals when calculating correct answers for this question.
• How many players have signed up for Eyewire? -296,506
• How many millionaires does Eyewire have? -216
• How many sectors have we completed in Eyewire’s “The Dig”? -13 or 14
  We finished sector 14 during this very competition! 13 and 14 are both considered correct answers for this question.
• How many cells from e2198 have been completed in Eyewire? -2,990
• How many new cell types were discovered by Eyewirers? -6
• How many datasets are there in Eyewire? -2 (e2198 and zebrafish)
• How many languages does Eyewire’s first tutorial video have subtitles for? -13
  Eyewire’s first tutorial has been subtitled in English and 12 other languagees!
• How many users were logged in on Eyewire’s busiest day? -7647
  Eyewire’s busiest day was March 5th, 2013, with 7647 logins!
• What is the average number of cubes submitted by a player who has finished the tutorial? -225.72

Evil Cubes

• Because these types of cells have no axon, there’s no distinction between input and output branches, and signals can be received and sent in one branch. – amacrine
• The connectivity between this cell type and starburst cells allows starbursts to send a direction selective signal. -bipolar
• Neural circuits that control eye movements in the zebrafish are found in this part of its brain. – hindbrain
• Synapses are either ____ or ____, meaning that they will either cause the postsynaptic cell to fire, or prevent it from firing. -excitatory or inhibitory
• Name the fatty substance that insulates axons, allowing for an increased speed at which electrical signals travel from a neuron to another cell. -myelin sheath
• A synapse may strengthen or weaken over time in response to increases or decreases in activity. What is the name for this phenomenon? -synaptic plasticity
• These fast-acting neurotransmitters propagate information throughout the brain by electrically activating neurons. 99% of all neurons in the brain release one of these two chemicals. -GABA and glutamate
• These retinal glia cells act as referees, regulating the extracellular environment and maintaining stability for the neurons they support. They are the most common glial cells found in the retina. -Müller cells (or Müller glia)
• Although chemical synapses are more common, this second type of synapse sends its signal much more quickly. -electrical
• Before they are released at the synapse, neurotransmitters are stored in these structures. -vesicles

Trivia

• In what year was Eyewire released? -2012
• What was the username of the first person with an Eyewire account? -echo
• In what year wa s “Scything” introduced? -2013
• Name 5 or more Eyewire admins, including former admins (Eyewire usernames or actual names accepted). -You can find the names of admins under the “Gamemasters” and “Gamemasters and tracers” sections in this blog post. We also accepted other current and former Seung Lab team members with admin status Eyewire accounts as correct answers (including the GrimReaper himself!).
• In what year was Mystic gameplay introduced? -2017
• Who was Eyewire’s first millionaire? -Jamiexq
• Which player has earned the most points overall in Eyewire? (Bonus point if you can name the top 3!) -Nseraf, Atani, galarun
• What was Eyewire’s first major competition? -Eyewire Games (Eyewire Winter Games also accepted)
• What was Eyewire’s first VS competition? -Zombies vs Vampires and Facebook vs Reddit vs Google+ vs Team X both accepted
• Which Eyewire employees started as Eyewire players? -Twister2 and Nkem
  Currently Twister2 (gamemaster/admin) and Nkem (developer) are both Eyewire players who work for the game! Player DannyS also interned with Eyewire

Art vs Music

• Who composed the music you hear in Eyewire? -John Smith V and Julian Samal
  Name 5 illustration interns that Eyewire has had over the years. – The names of our interns can be found here, under the “Illustration, Graphic Design, and Animation” category as well as “Other Interns”
• Which Eyewire admin does illustration for Eyewire competitions, posters, notifications and more? -Daniela Gamba
• Who created Eyewire’s first badges? -Beth Almeida
  Graphic Designer Beth Almeida created our first badges. Many of the first badges you win in the Points, Cubes, and Experience categories were created by her! Later badges were created by M, Daniela and Amy.
• Which team won Eyewire’s classical music VS? -Mozart
• Who was Eyewire’s former graphic designer? -Alex Norton and Beth Almeida both accepted
• Which Eyewire player makes fun cards, calendars and more, turning Eyewire neurons into art? -susi
• Which Eyewire player had their neuron render turned into a mural? -Kfay
• What’s the name of the Eyewire forum thread that features screenshots, memes and other images of funny things discovered in Eyewire? -Gallery of Amusements
• Which VS featured some silly musically-inclined animals? -Funky Monkey vs Sound Hound and Hummingbird vs Fiddler Crab both accepted

Marathon

• What’s the scientific name for the first animal whose connectome was constructed in its entirety? -Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) Also known as roundworm!
• This type of microscopy, used in e2198 was developed specifically for imaging neurons. -serial block face electron microscopy (SBFSEM)
• Which layer of the retina did our “Dig” cells come from? -Inner Nuclear Layer (INL)
• Who is known as the “Father” of neuroscience? -Santiago Ramón y Cajal
• These photoreceptors are responsible for color vision. -cones
• There are 5 cell types in the retina responsible for processing and transferring this signal. -photoreceptors, horizontal cells, bipolar cells, amacrine cells and ganglion cells
• What type of cells are these? Picture question -starburst amacrine cells
• What is the name for the space between neurons at the synapse? -synaptic cleft/gap
• What does the acronym PSD stand for in relation to the concentration of proteins at the post-synaptic membrane. -postsynaptic density
• Like a tree, a neuron has “branches.” What are these branches called? -dendrites

A note on grading:

• Slight spelling or phrasing errors and abbreviations did not affect the correctness of any answers
• ” X and Y” means you had to have both for a correct answer
• “X and Y both accepted” means you had to have 1 or more for a correct answer

If you have any questions you may send them to support@eyewire.org. We will answer them in the upcoming week.

Art by Daniela Gamba