“What’s This?”… or, Eyewire Oddities

Building on the guide in our FAQ, here’s a quick rundown for Eyewire beginners wondering about some seemingly strange things in their cubes. We hope this will give you a little more confidence as you trace!

What’s this big blob?

Looks like you’ve encountered a bouton. Boutons are frequently points where branches from other neurons will connect and form a synapse. As long as there is a clean, clear connection between the branch you were already tracing and the bouton that appears, the bouton probably belongs in your trace. The branch may either continue after the bouton or terminate with it. In the .gif below, you can see how the branch just ends.

Okay, but what’s this absolutely huge piece that fills up most of the 3D?

Looks like you’ve encountered a cell body. We try to eliminate these from the task queue but they do pop up from time to time. You can skip these cubes.

I just got a really small piece. There wasn’t anything that needed to be added. Is that okay?

Yep, that’s okay. Those cubes are great for your accuracy!

The branch I’m tracing seems to have a hole in it, or it looks like it loops back on itself and connects again. Is that okay?

This is also okay. If a neuron connects with another neuron, we call this a synapse, but when it connects with itself, we call this an autapse. You have found an autapse! Here’s an example of a smaller one:

When I select one segment, another segment next to it also gets selected, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Why?

Sounds like you’ve found an AI merger. The AI that guides Eyewire is good, and constantly improving, but not perfect. Once in a while it does stick two things together that do not belong. Reporting these mergers will help improve the AI. First, type /debug in your chat box to see the cube details. Then, ask for a Scout or Scythe in chat and tell them the cube ID. If you don’t think you can tell which branch you’re really supposed to trace in this situation, you can skip the cube after reporting it.