EyeWire Completes First Set of Synaptic Connections!

The EyeWire community has completed its first set of synaptic connections!

We recently debuted a new way to play EyeWire with 9 seed synaptic connections to J Cell #1, the first cell mapped in EyeWire. EyeWirers have already completed this task. Amazing!  In the image above, check out a closeup of synaptic structure.

Each of the branches we traced is colored differently in the image below. Can you tell which branches turned out to come from the same cell? Two of them ended up coming from the same starburst neuron.

In order to understand how neurons process information, we must discover how they are wired together.  These first 9 synapses are the starting point of something much bigger — an entire brain. This is a long way in the future; however, we think it will only be possible with the help of citizen scientists.

We’ve loaded up EyeWire with 10 new synapses. We’re also creating a new set of tutorials that will help you get past the tough parts of this difficult task. Check out this short Starburst Neuron how-to video and play at EyeWire.org.

Details about the EyeWire competition are coming later this week. The more you train by playing, the better you will be at finding missing branches for your team.