The neuron formerly known as 5to is now named Arachne!

 

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The results are in and Arachne is the name of our third newly discovered ganglion cell type! This name was nominated by Eyewirer kinryuu.

In mythology, Arachne was a master weaver who challenged Athena, the goddess of wisdom and crafts, to a weaving contest. Arachne wove a feisty message that called out the gods for misleading humans. She did so well that she enraged Athena, who turned her into a spider. Ovid’s version is summarized here as a 2-paragraph story for anyone curious.

There are three known examples of the Arachne neuron. You can see them in Museum here. One of them was mapped during the Great Spring Creature Feature Chupacabra Marathon of 2015 fbf.

Next Naming: January 2019

If you played Eyewire between 2014 and 2015, you can join in as we choose a name for Ganglion Type 1no, the fourth of 6 new neuron types first mapped by Eyewirers and published in Cell, 2018.

 

Phoebe and Cajal Neuron tied for 2nd place.