# TheFlyBrain: full text

> Every experiment in the TheFlyBrain registry, with its setup, measurement, limitations and sources, followed by questions and answers. Source: https://theflybrain.com/

## About

- Subject: a 3D fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) named Specimen 237, usually called "the fly".
- Body: NeuroMechFly v2, derived from micro-CT scans of a female fruit fly, with 69 articulated segments (Wang-Chen et al., Nature Methods, 2024).
- Nervous system: the MaleCNS v1.0 connectome from FlyEM at HHMI Janelia (CC BY 4.0): 166,700 neurons and 25,582,938 directed connections of a male fruit fly. Body and nervous system are not anatomically registered.
- Neural model: flybrain 0.1.0, leaky integrate-and-fire units in 20 ms steps with fixed weights. The model does not learn.
- Vision: each scene is rendered from the fly's own head and delivered as retinal input on a 32-column pathway. Display settings never change what the fly sees.
- Measurement: on the workstation, spikes are produced by the model and recorded, not drawn; they come from a model of the wiring diagram, not from a living fly. Browser previews on this site use a simulated neural panel.
- Registry: 68 experiments in six topics. 7 run in a web browser at https://theflybrain.com/try/.
- Workstation: the full source code is included with Research Associate on Patreon ($10 a month): https://www.patreon.com/cw/ParanoidAmerican/membership. Runs on macOS, Windows and Linux.
- Commission an experiment: $237, guaranteed, delivered as a 1–4 minute recording within 14 days: https://paranoidamerican.com/products/custom-fly-brain-experiment
- Sponsor an experiment: from $1,000; the fly tests a product or service, or a brand appears in an experiment, disclosed as paid: https://paranoidamerican.com/products/custom-fly-brain-experiment-sponsored
- Publisher: TheFlyBrain, a division of Paranoid American Labs (https://paranoidamerican.com).

## Questions and answers

### What is TheFlyBrain?

TheFlyBrain is a 3D fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) whose eyes feed a spiking model of the complete male fruit fly central nervous system, the MaleCNS v1.0 connectome with {neurons} neurons and {connections} directed connections, and a public registry of the {experiments} experiments the fly has been put through. It is a division of Paranoid American Labs.

### Is the fly real?

The fly is a computer model. Its body is NeuroMechFly v2, derived from micro-CT scans of a female fruit fly and articulated in 69 segments. Its nervous system is the MaleCNS v1.0 connectome, reconstructed from electron microscopy of a male fruit fly by FlyEM at HHMI Janelia. No living fly is used. The fly is named Specimen 237.

### Is the neural activity real?

On the workstation, every spike is produced by a leaky integrate-and-fire model of the full connectome running in 20 ms steps, and the spikes are recorded, not drawn. It is a mathematical model of the wiring diagram, not an electrophysiological recording of a living fly. The neural panels in the browser previews on this site are simulated.

### What is a connectome?

A connectome is a complete map of the neurons in a nervous system and the synaptic connections between them. MaleCNS v1.0 maps the entire central nervous system of a male fruit fly, brain and ventral nerve cord, at the level of individual synapses.

### Where does the fly brain data come from?

The connectome is MaleCNS v1.0 from the FlyEM project at the HHMI Janelia Research Campus, published under a CC BY 4.0 license. The spiking network is built with flybrain 0.1.0, and the body is NeuroMechFly v2 from the flygym project.

### How does the fly see?

In every experiment, the scene is rendered from the fly’s own head and delivered to the model as retinal input on a 32-column pathway. Display settings change what you see on screen, never what the fly sees. A compound-eye inspector shows the scene through 1,709 micro-CT-derived ommatidia directions.

### Does the fly learn?

No. The connectome’s weights are fixed, and no plasticity is added, so the model does not learn between or during experiments. Its responses come from the wiring diagram as published.

### What experiments has the fly done?

The registry holds {experiments} experiments in six areas: rituals and ceremonies (including a Masonic Master Mason degree and a Roman Rite Mass), film and media, rides and expeditions, history and training, altered states, and laboratory assays and sensory benches. Each has its own page with setup, measurement, limitations and sources.

### What is the fly Master Mason experiment?

In Master Mason, the fly is the candidate in a 52-stage Third Degree ceremony condensed from Duncan’s Ritual of Freemasonry (1866), with 27 other flies holding the lodge offices, through the raising and the closing. It runs in your browser.

### Can I run the experiments myself?

{runnable} experiments run in your browser on this site, with camera views, a compound-eye inspector, wireframe views and a simulated neural panel. Research Associates ({associate} a month on Patreon) get the full workstation’s source code, which runs every experiment and the full connectome model on macOS, Windows or Linux.

### How do I suggest or commission an experiment?

Anyone can suggest an experiment by posting it on social media and tagging the lab. A commissioned experiment costs {commission}, is guaranteed, and is delivered as a 1–4 minute recording within 14 days with a permanent page in the registry. Brands can sponsor an experiment from {sponsor}, with the placement disclosed.

### Are the body and the brain from the same fly?

No. The body comes from a female fruit fly and the nervous system from a male, and the two are not anatomically registered. The workstation keeps that distinction explicit in its documentation.

### Who makes TheFlyBrain?

TheFlyBrain is made by Paranoid American Labs, a division of Paranoid American. Recordings are published on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and X.

## Experiments

## Media Observation

- Experiment: No. 0001
- Topic: Film & media
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/movie/
- Added: 2026-09-19
- Sampling interval: 250 ms
- Response window: 700 ms
- Retinal columns: 32

The fly watches a film on a television, works at a research computer and pins timestamped frame evidence and red string to a corkboard when a measured neural response crosses a set threshold.

### Setup

- A room with a television, research computer and corkboard; four cameras: room, fly, television and board.
- Films are prepared locally by FFmpeg into seekable H.264/AAC copies up to 1280x720. Originals are never modified.
- Timestamped subtitles and annotation tracks supply cue timing and note text. Evidence frames carry decoded frame times from the actual media file.
- Human review confirms, rejects or retains each observation. Optional web research supplies leads only, not confirmed observations.

### Measurement

- Every 250 ms, television pixels or a render from the fly's head are reduced to 32 luminance columns that drive the model's photoreceptors.
- Timed cues stimulate LC10a and LC4/LPLC2 through the engineered movie-cues-v1 encoder. Over 700 ms of model time, mean DNa02 rate plus 0.25 x DNp01 rate is compared with a threshold to request a board visit.
- Head gestures, walking destinations and the pinning sequence are pre-programmed animations. Task stimulation of walking and foreleg motor cells is labelled in the interface.

### Limitations

- The model does not understand films or read websites. Notes, tags, frame selection and evidence memory are external to the brain model.
- Cue kinds such as warmth, threat and anomaly are external narrative labels, not identified fly emotions.
- Automatic sampling can miss brief details; it is not an exhaustive continuity checker.


## Synthetic Analprint Assay

- Experiment: No. 0002
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/surface/
- Added: 2026-09-19
- Identities: 3
- Views per scan: 6
- Feature cells: 256
- Pilot (downstream readout): 2 / 6 correct

The fly is moved through six prescribed viewpoints over an enlarged procedural radial-fold surface. Its downstream neural responses are classified by an external nearest-centroid readout to test synthetic surface discrimination.

### Setup

- A procedural radial-fold height field in a neutral laboratory scene; three synthetic identities, A, B and C.
- Controls: Enroll scan, Blind test, and Run benchmark (six enrollment scans, six held-out tests, six paired disconnected-input controls).
- Each scan follows an experimenter-controlled trajectory of six fly-centered views; the displayed trace is coverage, not the fly's internal map.
- Cameras: Arena, Fly, Top, Surface.

### Measurement

- Protocol retina32-lif-v1: recorded luminance columns only; surface labels, seeds, coordinates and identities never enter the neural probe.
- Each view runs 20 simulation steps on the frozen connectome; rates from 256 predefined visual-projection and descending cells form the feature vector, excluding direct retinal input cells.
- Recognition memory is a nearest-centroid classifier outside the connectome, compared with raw-luminance and retinal-spike baselines and disconnected-input controls.

### Limitations

- The first pilot scored 2/6 downstream, 2/6 raw input, 1/6 retinal and 2/6 disconnected, against nominal chance of 1/3: no demonstrated recognition advantage.
- Procedural geometry only: no human scans, identity claims or clinical conclusions, and not a reproduction of the Stanford study.
- Positioning is guided, not an autonomous exploration policy; retention means reloading the external readout, not biological memory.

### Sources

- Park et al. (2020), Nature Biomedical Engineering: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7377213/

## Retinal Bench

- Experiment: No. 0003
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/vision-lab/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Retinal input: 32 luminance columns
- Capture: 32 × 18 px
- Model step: 20 ms
- Protocol: capability-pairs-v1

The fly faces a calibration display of bars, looming discs, gratings, half-fields or uniform white and black. The 32-column retinal input actually delivered is compared with direct drive of LC4/LPLC2 and LC10a.

### Setup

- A stimulus screen with seven patterns: bar, loom, grating, upper, lower, white, black.
- Channels: retinal input, looming feature cells (LC4, LPLC2) and moving-target cells (LC10a); side both, left or right; amplitude 0–1.2.
- Position fixed, guided tour, or manual arrow-key movement, all experimenter-controlled.
- Cameras: Arena, Fly, Plan, Stimulus.

### Measurement

- Retina uses the canonical 32 × 18 render, RGB luminance averaged vertically, interpolated across the azimuth map, ×0.45, then the engine's eye gain.
- Measure paired response: 12 input samples; stimulus and disconnected branches share one noise seed; 10 baseline steps, 5 steps per sample and 10 recovery steps at 20 ms.
- Direct LC4/LPLC2 or LC10a stimulation bypasses retinal detection; directly driven cells are excluded from other readouts.
- 2026-09-21 calibration (seed 237): uniform retinal luminance raised retina by +12.48 Hz with steering and escape at 0 Hz; LC4/LPLC2 drive raised escape by +13.33 Hz.

### Limitations

- Colour and vertical layout are discarded; this is not compound-eye optics.
- The graded early visual relay is absent from the spiking model.
- Calibration values hold for this short protocol and are not validations of vision.

### Sources

- MaleCNS connectome explorer (Janelia): https://male-cns.janelia.org/explore/
- LC4 / LPLC2 looming pathway reference: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05562-8
- LC10a moving-target pathway reference: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03714-w

## Odor Room

- Experiment: No. 0004
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/odor-lab/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Specimens: 4
- ORN channels: DM1, DM2, DA2, VM1
- DM1 relay response: +15.00 Hz (calibration)

The fly is placed or flown beside four labeled specimens: ripe fruit, microbial substrate, waste and decay. Supplied odor-proxy concentrations are compared with recorded receptor and relay responses.

### Setup

- Four sources on dishes: ripe fruit (fruit ester + fermentation proxies), microbial substrate (geosmin proxy), waste specimen and decay specimen (model-specified amine mixtures).
- Channels: DM1 fruit ester, DM2 fermentation, DA2 geosmin and VM1 amine olfactory receptor neurons.
- Guided tour, manual arrow-key flight, or source buttons that place the fly beside a specimen; positions are experimenter-controlled.
- Meters show the local left/right supplied dose, separate from neural rates.

### Measurement

- Local concentrations become normalized direct drives (0–1.2) to the annotated ORN classes per side.
- Recorded receptor rates and the corresponding projection-neuron relays (DM1, DM2, DA2, VM1) are measured against a paired disconnected branch with the same seed.
- Saturation and high disconnected odor activity are shown rather than subtracted.
- 2026-09-21 calibration: 0.6 left-side DM1 drive raised the DM1 relay by +15.00 Hz, with steering and escape at 0 Hz.

### Limitations

- Mixtures and spatial fields are model-specified; waste and decay are not analytical chemical profiles.
- No terpene-specific detector is modeled; the amine channel is not a cadaverine-specific detector.
- The original sensory recurrence can saturate.

### Sources

- DoOR odor responses: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4766438/
- Geosmin pathway: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23217715/
- Amine / VM1 pathway: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3619346/

## Taste and Feeding Bench

- Experiment: No. 0005
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/taste-lab/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Channels: 3
- MN9 source IDs: 10331, 16949
- Protocol: capability-pairs-v1

A probe contacts annotated labellar or taste-peg afferents of the fly and proboscis motor output (MN9) is measured. MN9 can also be driven directly as an actuator check.

### Setup

- A bench with three cups and a contact probe tip.
- Channels: labellar taste contact, taste-peg contact (claw and dorsal tpGRN) and proboscis motor output (MN9).
- Side both, left or right; amplitude 0–1.2; cameras Arena, Fly, Plan, Stimulus.

### Measurement

- Paired measurement: stimulus and disconnected branches with the same seed; default 0.2 s baseline, 1.2 s stimulus, 0.2 s recovery.
- Annotations resolve retained MN9 source IDs 10331 and 16949, which the processed model labels CB0701.
- Direct MN9 stimulation is an actuator check, not an independent feeding decision.

### Limitations

- Chemical tuning is absent from these annotations; sweet and bitter are not inferred.
- Taste-peg claw cells are not leg proprioceptors.

### Sources

- MaleCNS connectome explorer (Janelia): https://male-cns.janelia.org/explore/
- MN9 proboscis motor reference: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11446845/

## Antennal Mechanics Bench

- Experiment: No. 0006
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/antenna-lab/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Channels: 2
- Model step: 20 ms
- Protocol: capability-pairs-v1

Slow auditory envelopes or wind displacement are applied to annotated antennal afferents of the fly, and downstream responses are measured against a disconnected control.

### Setup

- Two flanking sound sources stand on either side of the fly.
- Channels: antennal auditory input and antennal wind/gravity input.
- Side both, left or right; amplitude 0–1.2; cameras Arena, Fly, Plan, Stimulus.

### Measurement

- Normalized positive drive to the annotated mechanosensory auditory or wind_gravity afferents.
- Paired stimulus and disconnected branches with the same seed, recorded in 100 ms population bins.

### Limitations

- The 20 ms model step does not resolve an audio carrier; only a slow sound envelope is delivered.
- Wind is a normalized displacement proxy, not calibrated antennal mechanics.

### Sources

- MaleCNS connectome explorer (Janelia): https://male-cns.janelia.org/explore/

## Touch and Grooming Bench

- Experiment: No. 0007
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/touch-lab/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Channels: 4
- Protocol: capability-pairs-v1

A contact probe delivers tactile pulses to the fly's bristle and thoracic afferents, and the response is compared with direct stimulation of anterior and abdominal grooming command populations.

### Setup

- A bench with a contact probe tip.
- Channels: tactile bristles, thoracic (notum) touch, anterior grooming (aDN1 + aDN2) and abdominal grooming (DNp29).
- Side both, left or right; amplitude 0–1.2; cameras Arena, Fly, Plan, Stimulus.

### Measurement

- Controlled contact pulses to annotated tactile afferents, or direct drive of grooming command cells; aDN1 / aDN2 resolve to DNg62 / DNge078.
- Paired stimulus and disconnected branches with the same seed; gold rows identify directly driven cells, which other readouts exclude.

### Limitations

- Contact encoders are engineered and body gestures are pre-programmed.
- A thoracic-touch response does not prove a complete grooming sequence.

### Sources

- MaleCNS connectome explorer (Janelia): https://male-cns.janelia.org/explore/
- Anterior grooming (aDN1, aDN2) reference: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07523-9
- Descending neuron atlas (Namiki et al., eLife, 2018): https://elifesciences.org/articles/34272

## Proprioception Bench

- Experiment: No. 0008
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/proprio-lab/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Channels: 2
- Protocol: capability-pairs-v1

A controlled joint-motion or load proxy is applied to the fly's chordotonal and campaniform afferents, and responses are measured in annotated proprioceptive and motor populations.

### Setup

- A bench with a movable arm proxy.
- Channels: chordotonal organ (joint motion) and campaniform sensilla (load).
- Side both, left or right; amplitude 0–1.2; cameras Arena, Fly, Plan, Stimulus.

### Measurement

- Engineered normalized drive to anatomical proprioceptors, selected by annotation class and subclass.
- Paired stimulus and disconnected branches with the same seed; downstream motor responses recorded in 100 ms bins.

### Limitations

- No calibrated joint tuning; no position tuning is assumed.
- No physical force-to-current transduction model.

### Sources

- MaleCNS connectome explorer (Janelia): https://male-cns.janelia.org/explore/

## Temperature Bench

- Experiment: No. 0009
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/thermal-lab/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Channels: VP2 warm, VP3 cool
- Protocol: capability-pairs-v1

Normalized warming and cooling inputs are delivered to the fly's identified VP2 and VP3 thermosensory pathways, and the two channels are compared against disconnected controls.

### Setup

- Two plates in front of the fly, one warm-toned and one cool-toned.
- Channels: warming (VP2 thermosensory neurons) and cooling (VP3a, VP3b).
- Side both, left or right; amplitude 0–1.2; cameras Arena, Fly, Plan, Stimulus.

### Measurement

- Positive or negative temperature-change proxies as normalized direct drive to the annotated cells.
- Paired stimulus and disconnected branches with the same seed; default 0.2 s baseline, 1.2 s stimulus, 0.2 s recovery.

### Limitations

- Relative drive, not degrees; receptor transfer functions are not calibrated.
- Not a realistic thermotransduction model.

### Sources

- Temperature and humidity pathways: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7443704/

## Humidity Bench

- Experiment: No. 0010
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/humidity-lab/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Channels: VP4 dry, VP5 moist
- Protocol: capability-pairs-v1

Dry-air and moist-air inputs are delivered separately to the fly's VP4 and VP5 hygrosensory channels, and each response is measured against a disconnected control.

### Setup

- Two plates in front of the fly for the dry and moist conditions.
- Channels: dry air (VP4 hygrosensory neurons) and moist air (VP5).
- Side both, left or right; amplitude 0–1.2; cameras Arena, Fly, Plan, Stimulus.

### Measurement

- Normalized direct drive to the annotated humidity-receptor cells.
- Paired stimulus and disconnected branches with the same seed, recorded in 100 ms population bins.

### Limitations

- Humidity dose is illustrative: relative drive, not %RH.
- No thirst or hydration state is simulated.

### Sources

- Temperature and humidity pathways: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7443704/

## Motor Circuits Bench

- Experiment: No. 0011
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/motor-lab/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Command channels: 9
- Protocol: capability-pairs-v1

Identified command populations in the fly's connectome (steering, escape, forward and backward walking, halting, freezing, grooming and proboscis output) are stimulated directly and downstream propagation is measured.

### Setup

- Nine channels: DNa02 steering, DNp01 escape, DNg100 forward walking, MDN backward walking, BRK halting, DNp09 running/freezing, aDN1 + aDN2 anterior grooming, DNp29 abdominal grooming, MN9 proboscis output.
- Side both, left or right; amplitude 0–1.2; cameras Arena, Fly, Plan, Stimulus.
- Replay measured response plays both recorded branches in the shared anatomy viewer.

### Measurement

- Direct positive normalized current to the named command cells; directly driven cells are excluded from downstream readouts.
- Paired stimulus and disconnected branches with the same seed; mean Hz per neuron reported for stimulus, disconnected and their difference.
- Body playback is a pre-programmed animation illustrating a measured readout, not a mechanical simulation of the motor circuit.

### Limitations

- Command injection does not establish a spontaneous behavioral choice.
- DNp09 is state-dependent in living flies; there is no one-cell freezing switch.
- DNg100 is a named walking candidate; its body playback uses an engineered decoder.

### Sources

- DNa02 steering reference: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867424009620
- LC4 and LPLC2 synaptic gradients onto descending neurons (Dombrovski et al., Nature, 2023): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05562-8
- MDN backward-walking reference: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19936-x
- BRK halting reference: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07854-7
- DNp09 running / freezing reference: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05875-1

## Navigation and Memory Bench

- Experiment: No. 0012
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/navigation-lab/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Channels: 5
- Protocol: capability-pairs-v1
- Weights updated: No

Heading, goal-to-steering and reinforcement populations in the fly's connectome are pulsed directly inside a ring of twelve posts, and recovery after each pulse measures transient persistence.

### Setup

- An arena ringed by twelve posts.
- Channels: EPG heading, PFL3 goal-to-steering, PAM01 dopamine (reward), PPL101 dopamine (punishment) and the DM1 fruit-odor channel.
- Side both, left or right; amplitude 0–1.2; cameras Arena, Fly, Plan, Stimulus.

### Measurement

- Direct population pulses with paired disconnected branches under the same seed; 10 baseline and 10 recovery steps of 20 ms bracket the stimulus.
- Recovery measures transient persistence of activity after the input ends.

### Limitations

- No calibrated compass decoder or goal representation; anatomical left/right is not a heading angle.
- Dopamine-labelled stimulation has no plasticity effect in this fixed-weight engine; no learning is claimed.

### Sources

- EPG / PFL3 heading and goal reference: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-07006-3
- PAM01 / PPL101 dopamine reference: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07819-w
- DoOR odor responses: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4766438/

## Dealey Plaza Moving-Target Diorama

- Experiment: No. 0013
- Topic: History & training
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/depository/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Vehicle speed: 5.006848 m/s (11.2 mph)
- Scale: 10 m per scene unit

The fly occupies the exposed sixth-floor book room of a miniature depository with a scoped rifle while an empty open-top limousine travels the plaza road at the documented 11.2 mph average.

### Setup

- A seven-story depository, Houston and Elm roads, neighboring blocks, pergola and overpass at ten metres per scene unit.
- The limousine is empty; the scene has no human occupants or bystanders.
- At 1× playback the car follows the road at 5.006848 m/s (11.2 mph).
- Overview, Fly / controls, Target and Plan cameras; controls train the readout, test the frozen readout and demonstrate the pre-programmed action.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only input over four training variations and three 100 ms stimulus bins, with paired connected and disconnected branches.
- An external nearest-example regressor reads six downstream population rates and selects one lateral endpoint; the rifle uses a virtual contact action.
- Timing and animation are pre-programmed and control mappings are engineered; neural weights are fixed.

### Limitations

- The Warren Commission figure is an approximate average over part of the event, not an exact speed trace.
- Geometry and route are approximate; this is not a surveyed reconstruction or a ballistics simulation.
- The fly inhabits the miniature model; it does not represent a human shooter.

### Sources

- Warren Commission Report, Appendix 12 (National Archives): https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/appendix-12.html

## Boeing 767-200ER and Twin Towers Reconstruction

- Experiment: No. 0014
- Topic: History & training
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/airliner/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Scale: 10 m per scene unit
- North Tower roof: 416.9664 m
- Aircraft length: 48.51 m
- Impact band: Floors 93–99

The fly sits at the controls of a procedural Boeing 767-200ER flight deck in a metric reconstruction of the World Trade Center towers; the default pre-programmed approach ends on the North Tower's north face within floors 93–99.

### Setup

- Towers and aircraft share a scale of 10 m per scene unit: roof heights of 416.9664 m and 415.1376 m, a 63.6524 m exterior width and a 110.3376 m North Tower antenna.
- The 767-200ER is 48.51 m long with a 47.57 m span.
- A procedural flight deck with paired seats and yokes, six instrument screens, analog dials, twin throttles and overhead switches; the fly's forelegs reach the captain's yoke grips.
- Twin Towers, North face / 93–99, Fly / controls, Cockpit / over shoulder and Plaza plan cameras.
- The four-second entry animation ends with a schematic facade mark; no collapse or structural response is simulated.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only input; an external nearest-example readout of six downstream population rates selects a lateral endpoint within the floors 93–99 band.
- The aircraft uses simplified kinematics; instruments and control motion are non-functional visual elements, not flight dynamics or avionics.

### Limitations

- The contact point uses simplified, equally spaced floors; it is not the surveyed impact coordinate.
- Tower placement and plaza massing are approximate; the playback is not a historical speed trace.
- Activity version 2; earlier version-1 packages describing different geometry are rejected.

### Sources

- 9/11 Memorial & Museum FAQs: https://www.911memorial.org/911-faqs
- NIST NCSTAR 1-5A: https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/NCSTAR/ncstar1-5av1.pdf
- NIST WTC towers investigation FAQs: https://www.nist.gov/world-trade-center-investigation/study-faqs/wtc-towers-investigation
- Boeing 767 airport-planning dimensions: https://www.boeing.com/content/dam/boeing/v2/airports/acaps/767_REV_K.pdf
- Smithsonian 767-200 flight deck photograph: https://www.si.edu/object/boeing-767-200-flight-deck%3Anasm_A19960248001

## Portrait Bust Landing Training

- Experiment: No. 0015
- Topic: History & training
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/pence/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Training variations: 4

The fly flies a pre-programmed approach and lands on the white hair of a procedural portrait bust of Mike Pence whose face uses his official vice-presidential portrait.

### Setup

- A procedural suited bust with ears, white swept hair and a curved facial patch carrying the official portrait.
- Overview, Fly / controls, Target and Plan cameras.
- Readout training uses four scene variations; further controls test the frozen readout and demonstrate the pre-programmed action.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only input for three 100 ms stimulus bins, with paired connected and disconnected branches.
- An external nearest-example regressor reads six downstream population rates and selects one lateral landing endpoint.
- Body movement and the flight path are pre-programmed; neural weights never change.

### Limitations

- Recognizable portrait geometry, not a scan or anatomically registered reconstruction; no endorsement is implied.
- No biological learning is demonstrated.

### Sources

- U.S. National Archives, Pence vice-presidential records: https://www.archives.gov/presidential-records/vice-presidential-records/selected-vice-presidential-records/pence-records
- Official vice-presidential portrait (National Archives): https://www.archives.gov/files/presidential-records/vice-presidential-records/pence-official-portrait.jpg

## Astral Projection

- Experiment: No. 0016
- Topic: Altered states
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/astral/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Training examples: 4
- Stimulus bins: 3 × 100 ms
- Readout inputs: 6 population rates

The fly sits upright and cross-legged on a meditation cushion while a programmed rainbow copy of its body floats above it. An external readout trained on retinal responses selects the copy's lateral alignment with a luminous focus.

### Setup

- An upright anatomical fly with crossed hind legs on a cushion; a copy of its articulated body floats above, with a moving rainbow shader, particle haze and orbiting rings.
- A luminous focus whose location varies between scene variations is part of the sensory scene.
- Controls: Train readout · 4 examples, Test frozen readout, and a demonstration control that plays the pre-programmed rising projection.
- Cameras: Projection, Front / crossed legs, Seated body, Astral double.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only input: a fixed 32×18 image at each of four variations, reduced to 32 column luminance means and submitted for three 100 ms stimulus bins in paired connected and disconnected probes.
- An external nearest-example regressor reads six downstream population rates and chooses one lateral endpoint; frozen tests use separate noise seeds.
- Projection, haze and tether are display-only and excluded from acquisition; lift, pose and effects are pre-programmed.

### Limitations

- The projection is a programmed visual effect, not evidence of an out-of-body phenomenon.
- Neural weights do not change; the task does not demonstrate biological learning.
- Only the lateral endpoint is decoded; other coordinates, timing and animation are pre-programmed.


## Ruby and Oswald Photograph Reconstruction

- Experiment: No. 0017
- Topic: History & training
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ruby/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Training variations: 4
- Stimulus bins: 3 × 100 ms
- Readout inputs: 6 population rates

The fly occupies Jack Ruby's position in a non-graphic, all-fly reconstruction of Bob Jackson's published photograph; an external readout of measured neural rates selects the lateral endpoint of a pre-programmed, slowed projectile.

### Setup

- Figure assignments: the fly in Ruby's position, with flies for Oswald, Leavelle, Graves, the peaked-cap officer, the microphone holder, and obscured or edge figures with positional labels.
- Brickwork, doorway, partial car hood, hats and clothing accents approximate the photograph; cameras frame the Jackson composition, the hallway, the held object and the escort group.
- The Oswald figure and escorts move together; the Ruby figure flies forward holding a model object at the front-right tarsus, and the deliberately slowed projectile is followed by a small recoil pose without wounds.
- Scene variation shifts the escort group; controls train the readout, test the frozen readout and demonstrate the pre-programmed action.

### Measurement

- Each of four training variations captures a 32 × 18 scene image; its 32 column luminance means are submitted as retinal-only input for three 100 ms bins, with paired connected and disconnected branches.
- An external nearest-example regressor reads six downstream population rates and selects one lateral endpoint; tests use a frozen readout and separate noise seeds.
- All other motion, timing and the projectile path are pre-programmed; neural weights never change.

### Limitations

- Not a surveyed reconstruction; unidentified figures use positional labels, and no identities are assigned without a source.
- No ballistics, real firearm operation or aiming instruction is modeled.
- Results are single trials; no learning advantage is established.

### Sources

- Bob Jackson photograph (Library of Congress): https://www.loc.gov/item/98515505/

## Communism Classroom Instruction

- Experiment: No. 0018
- Topic: History & training
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/communism/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Lessons: 3
- Portrait: J. J. E. Mayall, 1875

The fly sits at a wooden school desk beneath an 1875 portrait of Karl Marx while the chalkboard presents one of three lessons; an external readout is trained to point toward a marked concept.

### Setup

- Three selectable lessons: Who owns the means of production?, Labour and class, and A classless society.
- Chalkboard, lesson cards, red banner, books and classroom windows; the portrait is the public-domain 1875 Mayall photograph.
- Classroom, Chalkboard / Marx and Pupil / desk cameras.
- Lesson state persists in activity packages; new trials record their scene parameters.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only input through the paired connected/disconnected probe; labels and geometry never enter the neural probe.
- The external readout follows a marked location on the board; the pointing response and classroom movement are pre-programmed.

### Limitations

- No semantic understanding or political belief is measured or claimed.
- Neural weights are fixed; no biological learning is demonstrated.

### Sources

- Karl Marx.jpg, J. J. E. Mayall, 1875 (Wikimedia Commons): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Karl_Marx.jpg

## Psychic Driving Tape Room (Subproject 68)

- Experiment: No. 0019
- Topic: History & training
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/psychic-driving/
- Added: 2026-09-21


The fly sits in a padded listening chair wearing headphones wired to a reel-to-reel deck, in a period-style tape room that references Ewen Cameron and MKULTRA Subproject 68.

### Setup

- A reel-to-reel transport with turning reels, threaded tape and animated VU needles; the headphone lead follows the fly's articulated head.
- Start/Stop tape controls the visual transport only; no audio recording is played.
- Dose with LSD applies an animated color and distortion treatment to the Eye image and Retina previews; Clear LSD effect restores them.
- Tape room, Reel-to-reel and Fly / headphones cameras.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only input; no auditory stimulation is submitted.
- The LSD treatment is display-only: submitted luminance columns and measured spikes are unchanged, and no pharmacology is modeled.
- The external readout controls a pre-programmed head-turn endpoint toward a wall cue.

### Limitations

- Scene equipment and treatment are illustrative, not a procedural reconstruction of the Allan Memorial experiments.
- No drug-induced neural state is modeled; neural weights remain fixed.

### Sources

- Canadian Department of Justice report on the Allan Memorial experiments: https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2024/jus/J2-63-1986-eng.pdf

## Master Mason

- Experiment: No. 0020
- Topic: Rituals & ceremonies
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/master-mason/
- Runs in the browser: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/master-mason/run/
- Added: 2026-09-21
- Stages: 52
- Flies: 28
- Duration: 18:17

The fly is the candidate in a Third Degree ceremony of 52 stages following Duncan's 1866 monitor, representing Hiram Abiff in the legend of Hiram Abiff, through the raising and the closing.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Officers take their stations: The lodge assembles. The Master presides in the East, the Senior Warden in the West, and the Junior Warden in the South. Deacons attend their stations; the Tyler guards the outer door.
- 0:14 Tyling, qualifications and opening: The Junior Deacon checks the door with the Tyler. The officers report their duties and the brethren are examined as Master Masons. Prayer and the opening declaration prepare the lodge for work.
- 0:30 Preparation in the anteroom: The Junior Deacon and two Stewards prepare the candidate. The hoodwink and three turns of the cable-tow belong to this historical account; the candidate waits outside the lodge.
- 0:48 Three knocks at the door: Three knocks announce the candidate. The Senior Deacon reports the alarm and asks who seeks admission and whether the preparation and preceding qualifications are complete.
- 1:00 Admission and reception: The pass is reported to the Master and admission is granted. Reception at the points of the compasses introduces the duties of friendship and brotherly love. The Senior Deacon takes charge of the candidate; the Stewards follow.
- 1:20 First circuit of the lodge: The candidate proceeds with the sun around the lodge. The reading begins with Ecclesiastes 12: Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. The South, West and East acknowledge the first passage.
- 1:48 Second circuit of the lodge: The second circuit continues the reading on age and mortality. Each principal station acknowledges the second passage with two knocks. The Senior Deacon guides the candidate and the Stewards accompany them.
- 2:16 Third circuit and halt in the South: The third circuit concludes the reading: the dust returns to the earth and the spirit to God. Three knocks mark the passage. The procession halts at the Junior Warden in the South.
- 2:46 Examination at the Junior Warden: The Junior Warden asks who comes, whether the candidate is duly prepared and properly vouched for, and what further benefit is sought. The conductor answers for the candidate and gives the pass.
- 3:04 Examination at the Senior Warden: The candidate is conducted to the West. The Senior Warden repeats the examination and grants passage to the Worshipful Master in the East.
- 3:22 Examination in the East: The Master repeats the questions. The candidate seeks further light in Masonry. The Master orders the conductor to return to the West for instruction in approaching the altar.
- 3:40 Three regular steps to the altar: From the West, the candidate advances by three upright regular steps, ending before the altar. The Senior Deacon assists with the position required by this account.
- 3:58 Obligation at the altar: The candidate kneels and repeats the obligation, covering fidelity, assistance, conduct and the preservation of entrusted matters. Duncan prints the complete historical wording and symbolic penalties on pages 94–96; the stage cue condenses that text.
- 4:33 Restoration to light: The hoodwink and cable-tow are removed. The Bible, square and compasses are explained, with both points of the compasses elevated above the square in this degree.
- 4:51 Duegard, sign and pass
- 5:13 Salute and examination in the South: The candidate salutes the Junior Warden and demonstrates the pass and token as instructed. The Junior Warden permits passage to the West.
- 5:29 Salute and examination in the West: The examination is repeated at the Senior Warden. The candidate proceeds toward the East and is then sent back for instruction in wearing the apron.
- 5:45 Investiture with the Master Mason apron: The Senior Warden invests the candidate with the apron, flap and corners down, as the distinction described for Master Masons in this account.
- 6:01 Working tools: the trowel: All the implements of Masonry are named, particularly the trowel. Its use in joining a building is made an emblem of brotherly love and affection.
- 6:21 Candidate retires; labor to refreshment: The candidate salutes at the altar and returns to the anteroom to be reinvested. At high twelve the craft is called from labor to refreshment; the Wardens reverse their desk columns.
- 6:37 Prepare the lodge for the drama: The altar, lights and pillars are cleared from the working floor. A canvas is prepared. The candidate is dressed for the second section while the lodge becomes the setting of the Temple drama.
- 6:51 Return and call to labor: The candidate returns among the brethren and is congratulated. The craft is called back to labor. The apparently finished initiation gives way to the second section.
- 7:07 The candidate represents Hiram Abiff: The Master explains that the candidate has not yet completed the degree and must now represent Hiram Abiff. The room stands for the Temple, and the principal officers and brethren take the parts of the legend.
- 7:29 High twelve: prayer and departure: Hiram retires at high twelve to offer prayer, then attempts to leave the Temple. Three fellow crafts who persisted in a conspiracy await him at its exits.
- 7:45 South gate: Jubela: Jubela demands the secrets of a Master Mason. Hiram refuses to disclose them in this manner. The twenty-four-inch gauge becomes the first symbolic blow, and Hiram turns toward the West.
- 8:05 West gate: Jubelo: At the West, Jubelo repeats the demand. Hiram again refuses. The square supplies the second symbolic blow, and Hiram seeks the eastern exit.
- 8:25 East gate: Jubelum
- 8:47 Concealment among the Temple rubbish: The three discover the consequence of their act, confer, and cover the body. They conceal it until low twelve, intending to remove it from the Temple.
- 9:03 Three circuits toward the burial place: The brethren carry the canvas and its burden around the room three times, representing the ascent of a hill west of Mount Moriah. They arrive near the western end of the lodge.
- 9:39 Burial and the sprig of acacia: The body is lowered at the represented grave. A sprig of acacia marks the place. The ruffians resolve to escape the country.
- 9:55 Joppa: passage refused: At Joppa, the ruffians seek passage to Ethiopia. The captain asks for a pass from King Solomon. Having none, they are refused and retreat to hide inland.
- 10:17 No designs on the trestle-board: Work has stopped because no designs have been drawn. King Solomon asks where Hiram is. A search of the Temple fails to find him; he has not been seen since high twelve.
- 10:35 Roll call: three absent craftsmen: The rolls of the craft are called. Jubela, Jubelo and Jubelum fail to answer. The Secretary reports the three missing fellow crafts to King Solomon.
- 10:53 The twelve recanting fellow crafts: Twelve fellow crafts report the original conspiracy of fifteen. They had withdrawn, but fear that the other three carried it out. They are sent to search in four parties of three, toward the cardinal directions.
- 11:15 Four search parties: The twelve searchers travel in four parties. The western party makes inquiry at Joppa, learns of the refused passage, and continues its search inland.
- 11:43 Discovery of the ruffians: The searchers overhear the ruffians lamenting their acts from their hiding place. They bring the three before King Solomon, where they acknowledge what they have done.
- 12:05 Judgment and renewed search
- 12:23 Acacia and the disturbed earth: A weary searcher takes hold of the acacia. Its loose roots reveal disturbed earth. The party uncovers the grave and identifies the body by the jewel of office.
- 12:47 The jewel is returned to Solomon: The searchers report their discovery and present the jewel. Solomon recognizes Hiram. The party is instructed to return and assist in raising the body; a substituted word is agreed upon.
- 13:07 Procession and funeral dirge: The brethren gather around the grave and make a solemn circuit. The funeral dirge reflects on mortality, truth and love. The Master and Wardens stand at the head.
- 13:35 First attempt: Entered Apprentice grip: The Junior Warden attempts the first grip and reports that it will not raise the body. The candidate remains on the canvas.
- 13:51 Second attempt: Fellow Craft grip: The Senior Warden attempts the second grip. This attempt also fails, and the Master calls the brethren to prayer.
- 14:07 Prayer at the grave: The brethren kneel for prayer. The Master prepares to raise the candidate by the strong grip of a Master Mason, with the assistance of the brethren.
- 14:29 Raising on the five points of fellowship: The Master takes the candidate by the strong grip, or lion’s paw, and raises him. The five points of fellowship are explained and the substituted word is communicated.
- 14:57 Explanation of the Hiramic legend: The Master explains the enacted legend, Hiram’s fidelity, the three ruffians, the search and the recovery. The candidate resumes the role of newly raised brother.
- 15:23 Reinterment and the memorial emblems: The account describes the three burials and the memorial: a broken column, an open book, acacia, an urn and the figure of Time. The emblems connect unfinished work, remembrance and perseverance.
- 15:45 Signs, tokens and fellowship: The signs and tokens are reviewed, including the sign of distress and the grips. The five points of fellowship express mutual support, remembrance, confidence and faithful counsel.
- 16:07 Wisdom, Strength and Beauty: The three grand pillars represent Solomon’s wisdom, the strength supplied by Hiram of Tyre, and the beauty of Hiram Abiff’s workmanship. The lecture describes the Temple and the organization of its workmen.
- 16:29 The emblems of a Master Mason: The lecture surveys the pot of incense, beehive, book of constitutions with Tyler’s sword, sword and naked heart, all-seeing eye, anchor and ark, forty-seventh problem of Euclid, hourglass and scythe. The spade, coffin and acacia recall mortality and immortality.
- 16:59 Charge to the newly raised brother: The charge calls for integrity, the correction of error with care, fidelity to duties, and the preservation of the reputation of the fraternity. The new Master Mason is welcomed among the brethren.
- 17:27 Third-degree examination and review: The question-and-answer lecture revisits preparation, reception, circuits, obligation, apron, tools, the Hiram drama and raising. Use the linked complete chapter for Duncan’s extended catechism and the full wording of the preceding sections.
- 17:55 Close the lodge: The officers ascertain that the work is complete, attend to the door and close in due form. The closing charge asks the brethren to carry their duties beyond the lodge. The lights are lowered and the candidate departs.

### Setup

- 28 articulated flies: the candidate, Worshipful Master, both Wardens, both Deacons, two Stewards, Secretary, Treasurer, Chaplain, Tyler, three ruffians, a sea captain and twelve fellow crafts.
- A cutaway lodge with officer stations, chairs, rods, aprons, altar, Bible, square and compasses, candles, pillars and a checkered floor.
- One seekable timeline lasting 18:17 at 1x; speeds from 0.25x to 4x.
- Five cameras: lodge, East, floor plan, following candidate and grave. Optional spoken cues and role labels.

### Measurement

- Play ceremony starts live retinal acquisition: each window captures the canonical eye image and advances the model by ten 20 ms steps with retinal input only.
- Measure this view pauses the ceremony and records three identical retinal frames with seed 237, paired with a disconnected control. Full trials persist in SQLite.
- Movement and narration are pre-programmed, independent of the measured readouts.

### Limitations

- Condensed wording, accelerated timing, illustrative room proportions and gestures modified for six legs; not an exact-duration or verbatim ritual.
- Not a claim that all jurisdictions follow Duncan.
- The legend of Hiram Abiff uses programmed object motion, a canvas and a symbolic fall.

### Sources

- Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor (1866): Master Mason, or Third Degree: https://sacred-texts.com/mas/dun/dun04.htm
- UGLE: What is a lodge and its officers: https://www.ugle.org.uk/discover-freemasonry/blog/what-is-lodge-and-its-officers

## Auditing Session

- Experiment: No. 0021
- Topic: Rituals & ceremonies
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/scientology-audit/
- Added: 2026-09-22
- Stages: 7
- Duration: 80 s
- Prompts: 3

The fly holds two metal electrode cans while an auditor fly poses a selected prompt and watches an E-meter needle across the desk.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Take a seat: The auditor and subject sit across the desk. Two electrode cans are connected to the E-meter.
- 0:08 Hold the cans: The subject takes a can in each foreleg. The leads run back to the meter on the auditor’s side of the desk.
- 0:18 Set the meter: The auditor adjusts the sensitivity dial and centers the illustrated needle.
- 0:28 Ask the selected question: The auditor poses the selected prompt. The fly holds the cans while the needle moves across the dial.
- 0:44 Repeat and observe: The auditor repeats the prompt, watches the meter and makes notes on the session sheet.
- 1:02 Acknowledge the answer: The auditor acknowledges the response and returns attention to the meter.
- 1:12 End the session: The subject releases the cans. The auditor closes the notes and the needle returns to rest.

### Setup

- A desk with notebook and lamp; a dimensional meter with sensitivity and tone-arm knobs, a marked scale and an animated needle.
- Seven stages over 80 seconds: orientation, taking the cans, calibration, prompt, follow-up, acknowledgement and closing.
- Three original prompts (recall a room, a sound, or an object touched) and a sensitivity control change the notes and the illustrated needle response.
- Ask again returns to the prompt. Close-up cameras inspect the meter, subject and auditor.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only neural windows during playback, with no meter-needle stimulation of the model.
- The needle is a programmed animation. It does not measure electrical resistance, spiritual state, truthfulness or neural firing.
- Measured neural activity appears separately in the anatomy viewer.

### Limitations

- An illustrative session with original prompts. The physical arrangement references the Church of Scientology's published description of an auditing session.

### Sources

- Church of Scientology: how an auditing session is conducted: https://www.scientology.org/what-is-scientology/the-practice-of-scientology/how-an-auditing-session-is-conducted.html

## Eyes Wide Shut: The Masked Ceremony

- Experiment: No. 0022
- Topic: Film & media
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/eyes-wide-shut/
- Added: 2026-09-22
- Flies: 22
- Stages: 9
- Duration: 126 s
- Cameras: 4

The fly, cloaked and masked, enters a crimson-carpeted hall, joins a ring around a red-cloaked officiant, is called forward alone and lowers its mask.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Enter the masked hall: A masked fly enters along the crimson carpet, passing the blue-cloaked attendants.
- 0:12 Join the circle: The subject moves to its place among the masked flies surrounding the red-cloaked officiant.
- 0:28 The officiant’s signal: The officiant raises and lowers the staff. The circle turns inward.
- 0:38 Process around the center: The cloaked flies make a measured circuit while the censer swings beside the officiant.
- 1:04 Kneel at the signal: The ring of flies lowers together, their masks facing the center of the room.
- 1:16 Rise and reform: The officiant signals again. The flies rise and restore their places around the circle.
- 1:26 The subject is called forward: The subject leaves the ring and moves alone onto the central carpet.
- 1:40 Reveal the subject: The subject lowers its mask while the surrounding masked flies hold their positions.
- 1:52 Leave the hall: The attendants open a path and the subject retreats down the aisle.

### Setup

- A hall of stone columns, arches, candles and a throne; 22 flies in dimensional cloaks, hoods and pierced masks.
- Participants: a red-cloaked officiant with staff and swinging censer, two blue-cloaked attendants, twelve flies in the circle, six gallery observers and the subject.
- Nine stages over 126 seconds: entrance, joining the ring, the staff signal, procession, kneeling, rising, summons, unmasking and departure.
- Four cameras frame the hall, ring, officiant and subject.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only neural windows during playback: ten 20 ms steps each, with no direct motor or narrative stimulation.
- The movement sequence is pre-programmed.
- Rendered incense haze is excluded from retinal capture.

### Limitations

- A procedural model with original geometry and a condensed movement sequence. No dialogue transcript, footage or soundtrack is included.

### Sources

- Eyes Wide Shut (Warner Bros.): https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/eyes-wide-shut

## The Monolith

- Experiment: No. 0023
- Topic: Film & media
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/monolith/
- Added: 2026-09-22
- Stages: 10
- Duration: 120 s
- Flies: 4
- Monolith proportions: 1:4:9

The fly approaches, touches and circles a black monolith beside a watering hole, picks up a bone club, strikes a rival fly and tosses the bone skyward.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Dawn at the watering hole: Flies gather among the rocks. A perfectly straight black monolith stands beyond the water.
- 0:10 Approach the monolith: The subject crosses the rocky ground and stops at the monolith’s face.
- 0:26 Touch the black surface: The fly extends a foreleg toward the monolith. The other flies gather at a distance.
- 0:38 Inspect the monolith: The subject circles the slab, watching its hard silhouette against the pale sky.
- 0:58 Discover the bone: The subject turns toward a bone lying beside the rocks and reaches down to pick it up.
- 1:08 Raise the club: The fly stands upright and lifts the bone club in a foreleg.
- 1:18 Meet the rival fly: A second fly approaches the watering hole. The subject advances with the club raised.
- 1:30 Strike with the club
- 1:38 The rival withdraws: The second fly gets up and retreats. The subject remains beside the watering hole with the bone.
- 1:48 Toss the bone skyward: The subject throws the bone upward. It spins against the sky before the scene settles.

### Setup

- A rocky dawn landscape, watering hole, scattered bones and a black slab with 1:4:9 thickness, width and height.
- The subject and three other flies. The rival recoils, falls and withdraws in a non-graphic reaction.
- Ten stages over 120 seconds. Replay club encounter starts at the rival's approach.
- Cameras cover the landscape, a low-angle monolith view, the strike and the skyward toss.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only neural windows during playback, with fixed weights.
- The monolith and bone club are rendered scene objects; the approach, strike and reaction are pre-programmed, and the club's reach adjusts to the anatomical foreleg and head positions.

### Limitations

- Modeled on the film's Dawn of Man sequence; not a shot-for-shot reproduction.
- Not a learned tool-use task.

### Sources

- 2001: A Space Odyssey (Warner Bros.): https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/2001-space-odyssey

## Fly Dance Class

- Experiment: No. 0024
- Topic: Film & media
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/twerk/
- Added: 2026-09-22
- Flies: 6
- Stages: 7
- Duration: 88 s

The fly attends a dance class in a wood-floor studio, following an instructor through stance, abdomen isolation and bouncing before an eight-count routine and a solo.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Take your places: The instructor faces the class. The flies settle onto their floor marks.
- 0:08 Lower into the stance: Spread the hind legs, bend down and brace the forelegs. The instructor demonstrates the posture.
- 0:16 Isolate the abdomen: The instructor slowly pulses its abdomen. The class copies the motion on alternating counts.
- 0:28 Bounce on the beat: The flies bend and extend their legs while pulsing their abdomens to the count.
- 0:44 Perform the routine: The class combines abdomen pulses, side-to-side shifts and a quarter turn in an eight-count routine.
- 1:08 The subject takes a solo: The other flies hold their places while the subject performs the sequence.
- 1:20 Finish together: The class returns upright and finishes on the final count.

### Setup

- Six flies: the subject, an instructor and four classmates.
- Seven stages over 88 seconds: places, stance, abdomen isolation, bounce, eight-count routine, solo and group finish.
- Abdomen segments move through the anatomical rig's pitch and yaw joints while the body crouches and the legs brace. An eight-light count board follows the pre-programmed beat.
- Rear, instructor and side cameras. Practice the routine jumps to the combined sequence.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only neural windows during playback, with fixed weights.
- All dance movement is pre-programmed. The beat counter follows the programmed timeline and is not a neural learning score.

### Limitations

- The instruction is pre-programmed; no learning takes place in the fixed-weight model.


## Cremation of Care

- Experiment: No. 0025
- Topic: Rituals & ceremonies
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/cremation-of-care/
- Added: 2026-09-22
- Flies: 19
- Stages: 9
- Duration: 126 s

The fly joins a torchlit procession in a redwood grove, follows a symbolic Care effigy across a lake by ferry and kindles the pyre at the feet of a large owl sculpture.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Gather beside the lake: Robed flies assemble beside the water, facing the stone owl shrine.
- 0:10 Carry Care to the shore: A torchlit procession bears the symbolic Care effigy toward the landing.
- 0:28 Place Care on the ferry: The bearers transfer the bier to the small boat. The ferryman takes its pole.
- 0:38 Ferry across the lake: The boat carries the effigy across the dark water toward the owl.
- 1:00 Bring Care to the altar: The effigy is brought ashore and laid on the pyre at the owl’s feet.
- 1:12 Address the owl: The officiant raises its staff. The torchbearers form a semicircle around the altar.
- 1:24 Kindle the pyre: The subject brings its torch to the pyre. The effigy begins to burn.
- 1:34 The cremation of Care: Flames rise around the symbolic effigy while the assembled flies watch from the shore.
- 1:54 Embers beside the lake: The flames subside to embers and the procession withdraws beneath the redwoods.

### Setup

- A redwood grove surrounding a lake, ferry landing, altar and large weathered owl sculpture.
- Nineteen flies: the subject, an officiant, a ferryman, four bearers and twelve robed witnesses.
- Nine stages over 126 seconds: assembly, procession, embarkation, crossing, altar transfer, address, kindling, cremation and closing embers.
- Replay cremation starts at kindling. Fire, smoke and water ripples follow the timeline and reset when seeking.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only neural windows during playback. The owl, boat, participating flies, effigy and flames are scene inputs; rendered smoke is excluded from retinal capture.
- Procession, ferry crossing and kindling are pre-programmed.

### Limitations

- A condensed sequence based on public descriptions of the ceremony; not a survey of the Grove or a verbatim ritual script.
- The straw Care effigy is an inanimate object, not one of the participating flies.

### Sources

- Peter Phillips, The Owls Are... (Jack Latham): https://www.jacklatham.com/the-owls-are
- Cremation of Care, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cremation_of_Care

## Slapfighting

- Experiment: No. 0026
- Topic: Film & media
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/slapfight/
- Added: 2026-09-22
- Flies: 9
- Stages: 9
- Duration: 64 s

The fly and an opponent take alternating turns slapping each other across a padded table while a referee and six spectators watch.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Meet at the table: Two flies face each other across the slap table. The referee takes its place behind them.
- 0:08 Blue fly winds up: The subject plants its feet and draws one foreleg back.
- 0:14 Blue fly slaps: The subject swings its foreleg into the opponent’s cheek. The opponent recoils.
- 0:18 Reset at the table: The referee separates the turn. Both flies return to their marks.
- 0:25 Red fly winds up: The opponent draws back its foreleg while the subject holds its stance.
- 0:31 Red fly slaps: The opponent returns the slap. The subject’s head and body recoil.
- 0:35 Recover and reset: The flies steady themselves. The referee checks that both have reset.
- 0:42 Trade another pair: Blue and red each take one more turn across the table.
- 0:56 End the bout: The referee steps forward and signals the end. The flies lower their forelegs.

### Setup

- Nine flies: two competitors, a referee and six spectators.
- Nine stages over 64 seconds: introductions, blue windup and slap, reset, red windup and slap, recovery, another exchange and finish.
- The articulated foreleg reaches the opposite head; a scoreboard counts completed turns.
- Contact and corner cameras. Replay exchange begins at blue's windup.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only neural windows during playback, with fixed weights.
- Contact, recoil and turns are pre-programmed.

### Limitations

- There is no injury model, gore, judged winner or competitive fighting model. The scoreboard counts turns, not damage.


## Dinosaur River Raft Ride

- Experiment: No. 0027
- Topic: Rides & exploration
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/dinosaur-river-raft/
- Added: 2026-09-22
- Stages: 11
- Duration: 126 s
- Seated flies: 6

The fly rides in the front row of a yellow river raft with five fly passengers past procedural dinosaurs, up a conveyor lift to a Tyrannosaurus at the crest, and down a steep flume to splashdown.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Board the river raft: The fly settles into the front row. Five other fly passengers sit behind the yellow raft’s safety bars.
- 0:08 Welcome to Jurassic Park: The raft leaves the covered dock and passes between the monumental park gates.
- 0:20 The herbivore lagoon: A long-necked dinosaur leans over the water. The raft drifts between jungle banks and rockwork.
- 0:38 Stegosaurus bend: A plated Stegosaurus browses beside the channel, moving its head and spiked tail.
- 0:50 A bump off course: A crested Parasaurolophus rises beside the raft. The boat swings toward the damaged containment gate.
- 1:00 Raptor containment: The raft passes a broken fence, a suspended crate and moving raptors on the service platforms.
- 1:14 Into the systems building: A conveyor lift carries the raft upward between pipes, catwalks and warning lamps.
- 1:30 T. rex at the crest: An enormous Tyrannosaurus leans into the raft’s path and opens its toothed jaws above the passengers.
- 1:40 The escape plunge: The raft tips down the steep flume. The flies brace against the safety bars.
- 1:44 Splashdown: The raft lands in the runout pool, throwing up two fans of water before settling.
- 1:52 Return to the dock: The boat follows the final bend back to the boarding station. The passengers remain aboard.

### Setup

- Eleven seekable stages over 126 seconds, from boarding and monumental park gates through a herbivore lagoon, raptor containment, the lift, the crest, the plunge, splashdown and the return to the dock.
- Procedural dinosaurs: a long-necked herbivore, Stegosaurus, Parasaurolophus, two raptors and a Tyrannosaurus with articulated necks, tails and jaws.
- All six flies remain in their seats, including during the descent.
- Aboard and raft-tracking cameras move with the raft; whole-route, Tyrannosaurus and flume views are also provided.
- A replay control starts at the crest encounter.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only live input from an eye camera aboard the raft, looking toward the current dinosaur encounter; display camera changes do not redirect it.
- Raft route, ride motion and animal movement follow a pre-programmed timeline.

### Limitations

- A condensed, original procedural model based on a theme-park river ride; not a park survey or ride-physics model.
- The real attraction's physical drop dimensions are not claimed for this miniature; no ride footage, narration or soundtrack is reproduced.

### Sources

- Jurassic Park River Adventure guide (Universal): https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/attractions/complete-guide-to-jurassic-park-river-adventure-at-universals-islands-of-adventure/

## Salvia Room Transformation

- Experiment: No. 0028
- Topic: Altered states
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/salvia/
- Added: 2026-09-22
- Duration: 1:48
- Stages: 8
- Carnival flies: 16

The fly rests beside a glass water pipe as the room stretches, unzips along giant seams and opens onto a carnival of rainbow flies and machinery, then closes back to its opening state.

### Timeline

- 0:00 The ordinary room: The fly rests beside a glass water pipe.
- 0:08 A huge drawn-out inhale: The fly lifts the pipe to its mouth; a dense cloud rolls through the glass and out into the room.
- 0:16 The body becomes endless: The fly stretches into a receding ribbon of itself as the room opens into a spiral.
- 0:28 Reality unzips: Giant zipper sliders peel the room apart, revealing rainbow flies and turning machinery.
- 0:42 The impossible carnival: A Ferris wheel, carousel and looping track carry multicolored flies between enormous gears.
- 1:08 Folded into the machinery: The rides spiral and the zipper seams twist through one another.
- 1:26 The room closes around the fly: The carnival contracts, the body regains its shape and the room reappears.
- 1:40 Back in the room: The fly and the glass pipe return to their opening positions. Ready to loop.

### Setup

- Eight stages over 1:48, looping by default: room, inhale, endless body, unzipping, carnival, folding machinery, return, rest.
- Rendered objects: a glass water pipe with smoke chamber and cloud, 16 rainbow carnival flies, a Ferris wheel, carousel, looping track, toothed gears and three zipper seams.
- The shared fly is greatly elongated with receding anatomical echoes; the room crossfades back during recovery.
- Cameras: Room / transformation, Fly / inhale, Carnival / machinery, Unzip reality.

### Measurement

- The changing geometry forms the canonical sensory scene; actual retinal columns feed the fixed-weight connectome during playback.
- Anatomy highlights show measured spikes; nothing paints firing cells or alters weights.
- Every pose, object and shader phase is pre-programmed and derived from timeline time.

### Limitations

- The sequence consists of programmed visual effects; it is not a model of drug action or a prediction of anyone's experience.
- The impression of endless stretching uses bounded geometry and scales.


## K-Hole Descent

- Experiment: No. 0029
- Topic: Altered states
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ketamine/
- Added: 2026-09-22
- Duration: 2:02
- Stages: 8
- Descent: 36 scene units

The fly sits beside a club dance floor, separates from the room and descends through nested rings and door frames into a dark void of floating room fragments before rising back to the club.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Inside the club: Fly dancers move under magenta and cyan lights. The subject sits beside the dance floor.
- 0:12 The club drifts away: Soundless-looking walls pull apart. The seated fly becomes separated from the room.
- 0:24 Falling through the floor: The fly drops into a deep shaft of nested doorways and luminous rings.
- 0:40 The immense quiet void: The body floats beneath the distant club. Suspended rooms pass at impossible angles.
- 1:04 Rooms without a floor: Corridors fold into cubes, then unfold around the slowly rotating fly.
- 1:26 Rising toward the club: The rooms align into a tunnel and the fly returns toward the dance floor.
- 1:42 The club becomes solid: Walls, lights and the seat settle back into place.
- 1:54 Back at the club: The opening scene is restored for the next loop.

### Setup

- Eight stages over 2:02, looping by default: club, detachment, fall, void, rooms without a floor, ascent, return, rest.
- The club has colored lights, eight dancers and a fly DJ; the subject descends 36 scene units.
- Cameras: Follow the descent, Club / surface, Void / full depth, Floating fly; travelling views retain the user's orbit offset.

### Measurement

- Actual retinal columns from the changing scene feed the fixed-weight connectome during playback; highlights are measured spikes.
- Descent, rotation and room motion are pre-programmed and derived from timeline time.

### Limitations

- The sequence consists of programmed visual effects; it is not a model of drug action or a prediction of anyone's experience.
- No pharmacology or drug-induced neural state is modeled.


## LSD Conservatory

- Experiment: No. 0030
- Topic: Altered states
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/lsd/
- Added: 2026-09-22
- Duration: 2:00
- Stages: 7
- Trailing silhouettes: 12

The fly stands in an indoor garden whose leaves breathe and whose floor develops moving contours; the garden unfolds into a mandala while colored silhouettes trail the fly.

### Timeline

- 0:00 The conservatory: The fly stands in a quiet indoor garden beside a fountain and broad leaves.
- 0:10 Patterns begin to breathe: Leaves ripple and the tiled floor develops slowly moving colored contours.
- 0:24 Every movement leaves color: The fly moves its forelegs and circles the fountain, leaving rainbow silhouettes in the full viewport.
- 0:44 The garden becomes a mandala: Petals unfold into nested geometry; colored trails follow the subject and surrounding flies.
- 1:12 Patterns inside patterns: The garden twists gently while luminous ribbons weave between the leaves.
- 1:32 The trails fade: The colored copies disappear and the garden gradually regains its original proportions.
- 1:50 The ordinary garden returns: The fly returns to its starting place. The scene can loop.

### Setup

- Seven stages over 2:00, looping by default: conservatory, onset, trails, mandala peak, woven patterns, settling, return.
- Breathing leaves, surface patterns, an unfolding mandala, luminous ribbons and 12 colored anatomical silhouettes trailing the subject.
- Effects appear in the main 3D viewport and the eye view without enabling Studio FX.
- Cameras: Conservatory / full trip, Fly / rainbow trails, Living mandala, Patterns / overhead.

### Measurement

- The effects are part of the canonical sensory scene; actual retinal columns feed the fixed-weight connectome during playback.
- Spikes shown in the anatomy viewer are measured; nothing directly paints firing cells.

### Limitations

- Trails are deterministic copies along pre-programmed past poses, not recordings of extra neural activity.
- Rendered visual effects only; not a pharmacological model.


## The Laboratory Set

- Experiment: No. 0031
- Topic: Film & media
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/meth-lab/
- Added: 2026-09-22
- Stages: 8
- Duration: 100 s
- Loop: On by default

The fly moves through a modeled laboratory film set among decorative glassware and rendered vapor, ending with a cut to a tray of premade blue crystal props.

### Timeline

- 0:00 The laboratory set: Work lamps illuminate glassware, a fume hood and two protective-clothed fly performers.
- 0:10 Inspect the glassware: The subject approaches the bench and checks the illustrated instrument panel.
- 0:22 The prop mixture swirls: A motorized stirrer spins colored stage fluid beneath the glass vessel.
- 0:40 Vapor-machine effect
- 0:56 Watch the apparatus: The fly adjusts a blank control and examines the glassware. No chemical settings are shown.
- 1:10 Cut / change the props: The work lamps dim while the apparatus is reset off-camera.
- 1:16 Reveal the crystal props: A tray of premade blue crystal props is displayed under the bench light.
- 1:30 Reset the set: The tray closes and both flies return to their opening marks.

### Setup

- Flies in protective clothing, glassware, a decorative coil, fume hood, bottles, a stirrer and vapor effects.
- Eight stages over 100 seconds: establish the set, inspect the glassware, stirrer animation, vapor effect, observation, cut, prop reveal and reset.
- Loops by default; each loop restores the opening pose and setting.

### Measurement

- The changing geometry and materials form the canonical sensory scene; actual retinal columns feed the fixed-weight model during playback.
- Nothing directly paints firing cells or alters neural weights.

### Limitations

- Depicted materials are unspecified. The scene encodes no real synthesis, reagents, quantities, temperatures or chemical operating instructions.
- The control the fly adjusts is blank; no chemical settings are shown.


## Sunday Mass (Roman Rite)

- Experiment: No. 0032
- Topic: Rituals & ceremonies
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/catholic-mass/
- Runs in the browser: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/catholic-mass/run/
- Added: 2026-09-22
- Stages: 46
- Parishioners: 24
- Cameras: 6

The fly attends a condensed Sunday Mass in Ordinary Time as one of 24 fly parishioners, following U.S. postures and receiving Communion individually from the priest.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Arrival / enter the pews: The congregation enters, reverences the tabernacle and takes its places.
- 0:36 Entrance procession: Cross and candle precede the priest along the nave.
- 1:00 Reverence the altar: The priest genuflects toward the tabernacle and kisses the altar.
- 1:10 Sign of the Cross / greeting: The priest presides from the chair.
- 1:20 Penitential Act: The assembly acknowledges sin and asks for mercy.
- 1:32 Kyrie: The invocation of mercy follows the chosen Penitential Act.
- 1:40 Gloria: The Sunday assembly praises God.
- 1:54 Collect: A pause for silent prayer precedes the opening prayer.
- 2:04 First reading: A reader approaches the ambo.
- 2:22 Responsorial Psalm: The psalmist leads the response from the ambo.
- 2:38 Second reading: The reader returns for the second Sunday reading.
- 2:56 Alleluia / Gospel procession: The priest carries the Gospel book from the altar to the ambo.
- 3:08 Gospel: The Gospel is proclaimed at the ambo.
- 3:28 Homily: The priest addresses the seated congregation.
- 3:52 Profession of faith: The assembly bows at the mention of the Incarnation.
- 4:10 Universal Prayer: The congregation responds to the intentions.
- 4:24 Presentation of gifts: Two parishioners bring bread and wine up the aisle.
- 4:48 Preparation of the altar: Bread is placed on the corporal; wine and a little water are poured into the chalice.
- 5:04 Washing of hands: A server brings water, a basin and a towel.
- 5:14 Prayer over the Offerings: The assembly rises for the invitation and prayer.
- 5:24 Preface / dialogue: The Eucharistic Prayer begins with thanksgiving.
- 5:40 Sanctus: The congregation joins the acclamation.
- 5:50 Eucharistic Prayer / epiclesis: The priest extends forelegs over the gifts. U.S. congregational kneeling begins after the Sanctus.
- 6:02 Institution narrative / bread: The priest holds the host. Catholic teaching: consecration changes the substance; appearances remain.
- 6:14 Elevation of the host: The host is shown to the congregation.
- 6:22 Genuflection after the host: The priest sets down the host and genuflects.
- 6:28 Institution narrative / chalice: The priest takes the chalice.
- 6:40 Elevation of the chalice: The chalice is shown to the congregation.
- 6:48 Genuflection after the chalice: The priest sets down the chalice and genuflects.
- 6:54 Memorial Acclamation: The congregation makes the memorial response.
- 7:04 Memorial / offering / intercessions: The Eucharistic Prayer continues with remembrance, offering and intercession.
- 7:24 Doxology / Great Amen: The priest raises the paten and chalice. The assembly remains kneeling through the Amen.
- 7:34 The Lord’s Prayer: The assembly rises; the prayer, embolism and concluding doxology follow.
- 7:48 Sign of peace: Nearby parishioners turn toward one another.
- 8:00 Fraction / Lamb of God: The priest breaks the host and places a fragment into the chalice during the Lamb of God.
- 8:12 Invitation to Communion: After genuflecting, the priest shows the host. The assembly kneels after the Lamb of God.
- 8:22 Communion of the priest: The priest consumes the host, then drinks from the chalice.
- 8:34 Communion procession: Each recipient approaches, bows, receives in the forelegs, consumes immediately and returns by a side aisle.
- 11:00 Purification of vessels: Remaining wine is consumed; the vessels are purified at the credence table.
- 11:14 Silence after Communion: The congregation rests in common silent prayer.
- 11:28 Prayer after Communion: The priest leads the final prayer from the chair.
- 11:38 Final blessing: The priest blesses the assembly.
- 11:48 Dismissal: The congregation is sent forth.
- 11:56 Altar veneration / departure: The priest kisses the altar and genuflects toward the tabernacle.
- 12:06 Recessional: The servers and priest leave along the central aisle.
- 12:30 The congregation leaves: Pew by pew, the parishioners reverence the tabernacle and leave the church.

### Setup

- 46 stages, from arrival and the entrance procession through the readings, Eucharistic Prayer and Communion to dismissal and departure.
- 24 fly parishioners including the subject, a fly priest and two fly servers; two parishioners also serve as reader and psalmist.
- An original procedural church: vaulted nave, jewel glass, rear rose window, organ gallery, six rows of pews with kneelers, ambo, altar, crucifix and tabernacle.
- Six cameras: nave, altar, congregation, Communion, ambo and stained glass.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only neural windows during playback, with fixed weights.
- Postures, movements and handling of liturgical objects are pre-programmed and modified for a six-legged fly.
- The activity does not measure belief, prayer, sacramental validity or religious experience.

### Limitations

- A condensed visual representation without spoken prayers, Scripture readings, a homily recording or music. English cue summaries do not reproduce the Missal.
- No calendar date, readings, homily or musical setting is selected; optional incense, sprinkling and announcements are omitted.
- Architecture, travel speeds and timing are modeled, not taken from a measured parish recording.

### Sources

- USCCB, Order of Mass: https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/order-of-mass
- USCCB, Liturgy of the Word: https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/order-of-mass/liturgy-of-the-word
- USCCB, Liturgy of the Eucharist: https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/order-of-mass/liturgy-of-the-eucharist
- General Instruction of the Roman Missal, chapter II: https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/general-instruction-of-the-roman-missal/girm-chapter-2
- General Instruction of the Roman Missal, chapter IV: https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/general-instruction-of-the-roman-missal/girm-chapter-4
- Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html

## Red Laser DMT

- Experiment: No. 0033
- Topic: Altered states
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/dmt-laser/
- Runs in the browser: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/dmt-laser/run/
- Added: 2026-09-23
- Duration: 2:32
- Stages: 9
- Holographic figures: 12

The fly watches a red laser projection on a wall as the room melts into a jeweled tunnel, twelve holographic fly figures present geometric jewels, and the room reassembles to its opening state.

### Timeline

- 0:00 A fly and a red laser: The seated fly faces a red projection on the wall. The instrument, chair and room are still.
- 0:08 Stare into the pattern: The red line develops layers of luminous glyphs. The fly keeps watching as the pattern seems to deepen.
- 0:22 The room starts to melt: Floor tiles and wall panels soften, stretch and curl away. A spiral opens behind the laser pattern.
- 0:42 Through the jeweled tunnel: Nested rings, impossible lattices and ribbons of symbols pull the room into a brilliant geometric passage.
- 1:00 Machine elves / holographic flies: Colorful fly entities appear around the subject, waving their forelegs and presenting rotating geometric jewels.
- 1:26 The self-transforming cathedral: The fly entities weave around a flowering lattice. Nested polyhedra, rippling mosaics and looping spirals fill the space.
- 1:50 Fold the impossible world inward: The geometry contracts toward the red point. Holographic flies recede as the room starts to reform.
- 2:08 The room returns: The last spirals fade, the wall and floor settle, and the chair and laser return to their exact opening positions.
- 2:24 The same red light: The fly is back in the original room. The next loop begins from the same pose and projection.

### Setup

- Nine stages over 2:32, looping by default: room, stare, melt, tunnel, machine elves, cathedral, fold, return, rest.
- A visible beam, rendered for display, connects the fly to a tabletop instrument; the wall projection uses original geometric glyphs.
- Twelve CT-derived fly figures become colored holograms with scan lines, rim lighting and articulated forelegs.
- Cameras: Fly / entire trip, Over the fly's shoulder, Laser / melting wall, Machine elves, Hyperspace cathedral.

### Measurement

- Playback submits real canonical retinal samples to the fixed-weight connectome; highlights show measured responses.
- All effects are procedural geometry or shaders derived from timeline time; seeking and loops are deterministic.

### Limitations

- There are no dosing controls, operating instructions or actual drug exposure; DMT pharmacology is not simulated.
- The scene does not infer that the fly experienced the imagery as a hallucination.
- The 650 nm laser report is a source for what was claimed, not proof that perceived symbols are an external code.

### Sources

- Goler (2025), "Code of Reality" report: https://ipipublishing.org/index.php/ipil/article/view/158
- Gallimore, discussion of the DMT laser claim: https://alieninsect.substack.com/p/on-the-dmt-laser-code-of-reality
- 2022 phenomenological analysis (Scientific Reports): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-11999-8
- 2021 naturalistic study (Frontiers in Psychology): https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720717/full

## Boat Ride of Nations

- Experiment: No. 0034
- Topic: Rides & exploration
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/boat-ride-of-nations/
- Added: 2026-09-23
- Costumed fly figures: 289
- Duration: 600 s
- Regional cues: 8
- Fly passengers: 10 including the fly

The fly rides a boat through the flooded show rooms of a Florida theme-park boat ride, past 289 costumed fly figures arranged by world region, ending in a white-and-gold finale.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Indoor loading hall: Board beneath the white-and-gold clock facade. Fly passengers settle into five rows of benches.
- 0:20 Europe: Pass Scandinavian towers, a Dutch windmill, British clock tower, French dancers, Alpine scenery, Italian gondola and Greek columns.
- 2:40 Asia and the Middle East: Golden arches, onion domes, a jeweled Indian palace and layered East Asian roofs frame dancing fly figures.
- 4:15 Africa: Cool blue and green jungle scenery surrounds percussion stages. Even the animal-character roles are performed by flies.
- 5:30 Central and South America: Warm orange terraces, a stepped pyramid, musical balconies and a rainforest canopy surround the boat.
- 6:55 South Pacific: Palm islands, flower dancers, a canoe and an arcing wave appear in green, purple and turquoise.
- 8:00 White-and-gold finale: Costumed flies gather among bright towers, moving flowers, a carousel and suspended balloons.
- 9:30 Goodbye and return: Multilingual farewell signs lead back to the indoor loading hall.

### Setup

- A ten-minute timeline with eight cues: indoor loading hall, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America, South Pacific, the white-and-gold finale and the farewell.
- All figures are flies: 289 costumed fly figures, nine passenger flies and the fly; the indoor clock face is also modeled as a fly.
- Tracking cameras cover an oblique passenger view, forward ride POV, nearby figures and seated passengers, plus an open-top overview and a finale room view.
- A replay control jumps to the white-and-gold finale.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only live input from an eye camera attached to the fly's seat, looking along the boat's forward axis.
- Figure motion and boat navigation are pre-programmed; no motor drives, semantic scene labels or new neural weights are injected.

### Limitations

- A reference-based model, not an accurate reconstruction; footprint, portals, scale, figure placements, costumes and per-room timing are approximations.
- 289 is a historical reference count, not a claim about the current installation.
- The original soundtrack is not bundled; the scene has no audio.

### Sources

- Disney's Magic Kingdom attraction page: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/attractions/magic-kingdom/its-a-small-world/
- Jack Spence, AllEars reference (November 2009): https://allears.net/its-a-small-world/
- Disney Parks Blog, March 2023: https://disneyparksblog.com/wdw/magic-kingdom-celebrates-inclusion-with-new-doll-added-to-its-a-small-world/
- Disney Parks Blog, July 2025: https://disneyparksblog.com/disney-experiences/disney-world-and-disneyland-to-debut-its-a-small-world-finale-scene-lyrics/
- Magic Kingdom photo reference: https://www.dein-dlrp.de/walt-disney-world/magic-kingdom/fantasyland/its-a-small-world.html

## Seven-Inversion Launch Coaster

- Experiment: No. 0035
- Topic: Rides & exploration
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/launch-coaster/
- Added: 2026-09-23
- Inversions: 7
- Duration: 135 s
- Train: 8 cars, 4 abreast
- Scale: 4 m per scene unit

The fly rides in the front row of an eight-car, four-abreast train on a reference-based model of a launched coaster in Orlando, through an inclined launch tunnel and seven inversions.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Board the gamma accelerator: The fly sits in the front row beneath an over-the-shoulder restraint. Eight four-abreast cars wait at the station.
- 0:08 Into the launch tunnel: The train advances into the inclined gamma accelerator, passing green illuminated rings.
- 0:20 Tire-propelled launch
- 0:22 01 / Zero-G roll: The train emerges from the tube and rolls completely upside down at the crest.
- 0:26 First drop toward the lagoon: The train drops from the opening roll and sweeps toward the water.
- 0:30 02–03 / Cobra roll: Two connected inversions turn the train around above the lagoon.
- 0:38 04 / Lagoon vertical loop: A tall vertical loop follows the cobra roll along the waterfront.
- 0:44 First trench and mist tunnel: The train dives beneath the pedestrian crossing and emerges beside the launch structure.
- 0:48 Wrap around the accelerator: A banked turn wraps around the inclined launch tube toward the rear of the ride.
- 1:00 05 / First corkscrew: The train twists through the first corkscrew behind the launch section.
- 1:04 06 / Rear vertical loop: The second loop rises around the mid-course brake area.
- 1:09 Banked turnaround: An elevated turnaround brings the train toward the straight mid-course brakes.
- 1:16 Mid-course brake run: The train slows along a raised straight before the final section.
- 1:21 Drop off the brakes: The train tips from the brake run toward the last inversion.
- 1:25 07 / Final corkscrew: The last corkscrew rolls the train over before the low return turns.
- 1:29 Second trench and return helix: The train winds through the low final section, including a second recessed trench.
- 1:37 Final brakes: The train settles onto the straight final brake run.
- 1:52 Return to the station: The train rolls back into the station and stops at its starting berth.

### Setup

- 18 seekable stages over 135 seconds: boarding, the launch tunnel, a zero-G roll, a cobra roll, two vertical loops, two corkscrews, two trenches, brake runs and the return to the station.
- Four flies sit in the first row, with the fly in the left-center seat; rows behind the first are empty.
- One scene unit is four metres; vertical scale targets 110 ft (33.528 m) and the plan is calibrated to a 3,700 ft centerline.
- Fly riders, Front row POV and Train chase cameras roll with the leading car; Whole coaster and Lagoon inversions views show the layout.

### Measurement

- Canonical 32-column retinal input reaches the fixed connectome model; the eye camera retains train roll, including when the sky is below the rider.
- Train motion, passenger posture and ride cues are pre-programmed; no vestibular input, g-force or physiological response is modeled.

### Limitations

- Control points, banking, loop shape, supports and landscaping are approximations, not a manufacturer drawing, survey or validated coaster-physics simulation.
- The 135-second timeline is a programmed distance schedule, not measured ride telemetry.
- The fly's body is enlarged and fitted to the seat; this is not a physically sized fruit fly.

### Sources

- Universal's guide to the Incredible Hulk Coaster: https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/attractions/guide-to-the-incredible-hulk-coaster-at-universals-islands-of-adventure/
- Universal 2016 release: https://media.universalorlando.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/The-Incredible-Hulk-Coaster-Evergreen-Release.pdf
- Roller Coaster DataBase: https://rcdb.com/557.htm
- Layout diagram by Zanekingi (Wikimedia Commons): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Incredible_hulk_layout.jpg

## Mars HiRISE Terrain Survey

- Experiment: No. 0036
- Topic: Rides & exploration
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/mars-hirise/
- Added: 2026-09-22
- Scale: 50 m per scene unit
- Elevation grid: 257 × 257
- Tile size: approx. 2 km square
- Terrain mesh: 131,072 triangles

The fly, enlarged to tens of metres, walks a looping five-stop survey route across Martian terrain built from published HiRISE stereo elevation models and aligned orthoimages.

### Setup

- Two sites: glaciers and brain terrain (ESP_033165_2195 / ESP_032875_2195) and a second terrain tile from PSP_006633_2010 / PSP_007556_2010.
- Each tile is an approximately 2 km square crop: a 257 × 257 elevation grid and a 2048 × 2048 orthoimage, verified by SHA-256 checksum on load.
- One scene unit equals 50 terrain metres; terrain has no vertical exaggeration.
- Survey tour or manual W/A/S/D traverse; clicking the survey map relocates the fly; speeds from 5 to 100 m/s.
- Survey, Follow fly, Surface eye and Topography cameras.

### Measurement

- Optional live neural input submits 32 luminance columns of the canonical eye image to the fixed connectome model.
- Navigation and gait are pre-programmed; measured spikes do not select the route, update weights or train a skill.
- Live windows are transient and are not exported as trial records.

### Limitations

- Stereo reconstruction can contain seams, interpolation artifacts and poorly constrained surfaces; the display is for exploration, not precision geological measurement.
- Rust coloration is a rendered tint over a monochrome RED orthoimage, not measured true color.
- Gravity, atmosphere, contact forces and individual tarsal physics are not modeled.

### Sources

- HiRISE DTM: Glaciers and brain terrain: https://www.uahirise.org/dtm/dtm.php?ID=ESP_033165_2195
- HiRISE DTM: A human bird's eye view: https://www.uahirise.org/dtm/dtm.php?ID=PSP_006633_2010
- HiRISE DTM documentation: https://www.uahirise.org/dtm/about.php
- HiRISE image usage policy: https://www.uahirise.org/usage/

## Seed of Life Sequence

- Experiment: No. 0037
- Topic: Altered states
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/seed-of-life/
- Runs in the browser: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/seed-of-life/run/
- Added: 2026-09-23
- Duration: 120 s
- Connections: 78
- Peak rotation rate: 5.12 rad/s
- Frequency range: 20 to about 773.98 Hz

The fly watches seven intersecting circles become a ten-point Tree of Life, then thirteen centers joined by 78 connections, which lift into depth and rotate with accelerating speed.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Seed of Life / seven circles: Six equal circles unfold around a central circle. The centers retain their point identities throughout the sequence.
- 0:18 Tree of Life / ten points: The seed stretches into a three-column Tree of Life. Ten points resolve into a connected, 22-path diagram.
- 0:42 Thirteen centers: The tree branches open into two sixfold rings around the central point. Three additional points complete the thirteen-center pattern.
- 1:00 Metatron’s Cube / 78 connections: Every pair of centers is joined. Red, yellow and blue identify the points; each keeps its assigned frequency.
- 1:18 Unfold into depth: The planar lattice opens into three dimensions. Rotation begins accelerating, providing changing depth and occlusion cues to the fly’s eye.
- 1:36 Accelerating spatial lattice: Angular speed doubles every six scene seconds. Tone frequencies remain fixed while the geometry accelerates. Pause or seek to inspect any configuration.

### Setup

- Six stages over 120 s; the sequence holds its final pose by default, with optional loop.
- Red, yellow and blue point identities persist through every transition.
- From second 78 the angular rate doubles every six scene seconds, from 0.04 to 5.12 rad/s at second 120.
- Each of the 13 points is assigned f(n) = 20(1 + nπ) Hz, from 20 to about 773.98 Hz; optional tones play to the human monitor only.
- Cameras: Front / geometry, Fly / observation chamber, Oblique / depth.

### Measurement

- The fly receives actual eye-camera images through retinal-only neural acquisition.
- Human-monitor audio is not fed into the fly; no direct stimulation, plasticity or synthetic highlights are added.

### Limitations

- The tree morph and depth lift are programmed constructions, not a unique mathematical derivation.
- Frequencies are oscillator assignments, not calculated physical resonances.
- Increased spatial awareness is an untested hypothesis; this is not a thermodynamic model or a test of consciousness.

### Sources

- Metatron's Cube construction (Grid Maker Pro): https://gridmakerpro.com/grids/sacred-geometry/metatrons-cube/
- Hearing research review (20 Hz boundary): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15273023/

## Little Saint James Pavilion Expedition

- Experiment: No. 0038
- Topic: Rides & exploration
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/epstein-island/
- Added: 2026-09-23
- Stages: 10
- Duration: 170 s
- Flies: 6
- Rendered camera feeds: 24

The fly and five other flies arrive by motorboat at a reference-based reconstruction of the striped pavilion on Little Saint James and enter it. The model also includes an underground room with 24 rendered camera feeds; this room is not documented in the cited sources.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Approach Little Saint James: Six flies approach the island in a small motorboat. The striped pavilion and its early gold dome stand above the rocky shoreline.
- 0:22 Pull alongside the landing: The boat slows beside the landing. The expedition turns toward the palm-lined terrace.
- 0:32 Fly up to the pavilion: The flies leave the boat together and fly over the slope to the red-and-white patterned terrace.
- 0:50 Inspect the striped entrance: The group assembles at the tall arched entrance, beneath the gold dome and roof ornaments.
- 1:02 Break into the pavilion
- 1:12 Inside the pavilion
- 1:28 A hidden panel opens
- 1:40 Descend beneath the pavilion: The flies follow the lit stairway down to a concrete corridor and a glazed security booth.
- 1:58 Twenty-four surveillance screens
- 2:22 Inspect the camera feeds

### Setup

- Ten stages over 170 seconds: approach, landing, flight to the pavilion, the entrance, entry, the interior, a hidden panel, the descent, the monitor wall and feed inspection; the last four have no documented source.
- The exterior restores the earlier ribbed gold dome documented in March 2015 aerial footage; closer details follow five public-domain FBI photographs attributed to the August 2019 search and released in 2025.
- The security booth included in the model, which is not documented in the cited sources, shows 24 separately rendered feeds in a 1536 × 576 atlas, each overlaid with an on-screen label identifying it as a simulated recording.
- Cameras include expedition follow, close fly-follow, an anchored fly POV, aerial, interior, monitor-wall and single-monitor views.
- An optional fully rendered presentation adds ocean, sky and lighting effects to the viewport only.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only live input from the fly's eye camera; neural weights remain fixed.
- Fly movement, the boat route and all monitor footage are pre-programmed; display enhancements and feed renders do not change canonical retinal images.

### Limitations

- A photographic approximation, not a surveyed model; dimensions, foliage, statuary, shoreline and landing position are estimates.
- Combining the 2019 photographs, which show no dome, with the earlier dome is an explicit cross-date reconstruction.
- The break-in, sliding panel, underground passage, security booth, monitor wall and all recorded fly scenes are included in the model without a documented source; no real security footage, people, victims or criminal events are depicted.

### Sources

- The Temple, Little Saint James (Wikimedia Commons category): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:The_Temple,_Little_Saint_James
- Axiom Images footage AX102_250, March 12, 2015: https://www.axiomimages.com/aerial-stock-footage/view/AX102_250
- NBC News permit reporting: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jeffrey-epstein-s-bizarre-blue-striped-building-private-island-raised-n1037511
- House Oversight release of USVI imagery: https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-member-robert-garcia-statement-on-production-of-photos-and-videos-from-epsteins-island

## Dee and Kelley: Scrying Uriel

- Experiment: No. 0039
- Topic: Rituals & ceremonies
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/dee-uriel/
- Added: 2026-09-28
- Stages: 10
- Duration: 180 s
- Fly participants: 2
- Cameras: 6

The fly, as Edward Kelley, watches the framed stone at John Dee's Holy Table while a second fly as Dee questions and records, until Uriel, then a chair and table, appear inside the stone.

### Timeline

- 0:00 The table of practice / 1583 furniture: The painted sweet-wood table stands over four small wax seals. Its seven ensigns and twelve central letters follow the historical plate. This is the developed furniture, not a claim that it already existed at the first meeting.
- 0:16 Silk, seal and shewstone: The central Sigillum Dei Aemeth lies beneath the silk; the framed stone stands above it. Red silk extends beneath the table. Use Inspect table to see the covered paintwork and seal.
- 0:30 Joint prayer / 10 March 1582: Kelley, then using the name Edward Talbot, attends to the framed stone. Dee joins him in prayer. The initial morning action called for Anchor; the reported visitor identified himself as Uriel.
- 0:48 Kelley attends to the stone: Kelley leans toward the shewstone while Dee waits with pen and paper. The diary says the first sight came within a quarter of an hour; the scene compresses the waiting.
- 1:06 Uriel appears / later descriptive source
- 1:30 Dee asks about Soyga / 10 March, morning: Dee asks how to read the tables in his Book of Soyga. Kelley reports Uriel’s answer: Michael is their interpreter. Dee turns back to his notes; Kelley continues looking into the stone.
- 1:50 A chair within the stone / afternoon action
- 2:06 A square table is shown / 10 March, afternoon: A square table appears beside the chair. The record gives the two-cubit table and central wax seal, with four smaller seals beneath the feet. The later painted table surrounds the scene as a composite reconstruction.
- 2:24 Dee records the action: Kelley reports what he sees; Dee writes at the side desk. The roles are distinct: Dee’s account records mediated testimony, not two witnesses independently seeing the same apparition.
- 2:44 Close the action

### Setup

- Ten stages over 180 seconds: a composite of the 10 March 1582 conversations, the developed 1583 furniture and Uriel's appearance as described on 13 January 1584.
- The Holy Table follows Ashmole's measurements: a 36 1/4 x 35 7/8-inch top, 0.7-inch thickness and a 14 1/4 x 11-inch centre of three columns and four rows. Historical plate marks supply the paintwork.
- Four wax foot seals, the central Sigillum Dei Aemeth, silk coverings and a silver-framed crystal.
- Six cameras, including table, crystal, Dee's notes, table feet and Kelley's first-person view. Inspect cutaways show the paintwork or seal in the viewport only.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only neural windows during playback, with fixed weights. The canonical eye image always shows the covered table, regardless of inspection cutaways.
- The apparition is rendered from Kelley's reported vision; the flies do not independently perceive an angel.

### Limitations

- An explicitly labelled composite, not a reconstruction of one dated session.
- Fly clothing, room layout, likenesses, lighting, gestures and timing are modeled; the room is not a survey of Dee's house.
- No later Golden Dawn ritual or unsourced Enochian speech is inserted.

### Sources

- 10 March 1582, morning: https://www.billheidrick.com/tlc1988/tlc0788.htm
- 10 March 1582, afternoon: https://www.billheidrick.com/tlc1988/tlc0888.htm
- Dee's furniture summary, Sloane 3191: https://www.esotericarchives.com/dee/hm.htm
- 13 January 1584, Stettin (Casaubon p. 60): https://www.esotericarchives.com/dee/tfr/tfr2.htm
- Ashmole measurements of Dee's Holy Table: https://www.esotericarchives.com/dee/Oxford_Bodleian_Ashmole_1790_55r_dimensions_of_dees_holy_table.pdf
- Holy Table letter order: https://www.esotericarchives.com/dee/holytab.htm

## The Abramelin Operation

- Experiment: No. 0040
- Topic: Rituals & ceremonies
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/abramelin/
- Runs in the browser: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/abramelin/run/
- Added: 2026-09-28
- Stages: 13
- Duration: 250 s
- Edition: Mathers, 1898

The fly, as aspirant, undertakes a condensed six-month Abramelin operation in a domestic oratory, from preparation and increasing prayer to the guardian and exterior convocations.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Prepare the oratory: Pine floor, cupboard altar, suspended oil lamp, fixed bronze censer; sand covers the terrace and northern lodge.
- 0:16 First two moons / morning and evening: The aspirant prays at dawn and evening. Changing daylight compresses the first period of preparation.
- 0:38 Second two moons / increasing devotion: Longer prayer and withdrawal from ordinary distractions. The books remain beside the oratory.
- 1:00 Consecration / beginning the last two moons: White vestment, oil and incense mark the consecration of the room and its furniture.
- 1:16 Last two moons / retirement: Morning, midday and evening prayer; ordinary occupations cease. The fly repeatedly inclines before the altar.
- 1:38 First convocation day / mourning and the seer: The aspirant prostrates at the entrance. An assistant attends the altar and silver plate. The text prescribes a child seer; an anatomical fly represents this role.
- 1:58 Second convocation day / continue in prayer: The mourning garment and low posture continue. The assistant and plate belong to the preceding textual procedure.
- 2:14 Third convocation day / guardian angel
- 2:38 Exterior convocation / four princes: Lucifer, Leviatan, Satan and Belial appear on the sand outside. Scarlet and gold replace the white vestment.
- 3:00 Next day / eight subprinces: Astarot, Magot, Asmodee, Belzebud, Oriens, Paimon, Ariton and Amaimon occupy the terrace.
- 3:22 Third exterior day / retinues and symbols: Retinue figures stand beyond the threshold. The displayed COLI square transcribes Book III, chapter XI, symbol 1.
- 3:42 License to depart: The figures withdraw. The source requires dismissal after each convocation; this closing movement condenses those repeated departures.
- 3:58 Return to the written record

### Setup

- Thirteen stages compress the operation into 250 seconds, following S. L. MacGregor Mathers's 1898 edition.
- An oratory following Book II, chapter XI: pine floor, cupboard altar, suspended olive-oil lamp, metal censer, window, open terrace and a northern lodge with river sand.
- The aspirant changes from mourning to white, then scarlet and gold. An assistant fly represents the child-seer role; twelve further flies represent the four princes and eight subprinces.
- One complete source square (Book III, chapter XI, symbol 1) is displayed. Five cameras: oratory, altar, northern terrace, symbol sheet and aspirant.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only neural windows during playback, with fixed weights.
- Appearances, actions and the presentation of supernatural figures are pre-programmed.

### Limitations

- Models the six-month Mathers version only; earlier German witnesses describe eighteen months.
- The final retinue scene is condensed and does not enumerate every spirit in the book. Room dimensions and open cutaway walls are modeling choices.

### Sources

- The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage: text and manuscript comparison: https://www.esotericarchives.com/abramelin/abramelin.htm

## The Babalon Working

- Experiment: No. 0041
- Topic: Rituals & ceremonies
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/babalon-working/
- Runs in the browser: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/babalon-working/run/
- Added: 2026-09-28
- Stages: 12
- Duration: 242 s
- Fly participants: 3
- Cameras: 5

The fly, as Jack Parsons, follows Parsons's 1946 record of the Babalon Working across Pasadena and the Mojave, with two further flies as L. Ron Hubbard (scribe) and Marjorie Cameron.

### Timeline

- 0:00 4 January 1946 / Pasadena
- 0:18 4–15 January / repeated workings
- 0:40 18 January / Mojave sunset: Parsons and the scribe travel to the desert.
- 1:00 Return to Pasadena / Cameron: Cameron enters the account after the desert excursion.
- 1:18 19 January–27 February / private workings: Closed curtains stand for the sexual-magic phase; the timeline advances without explicit enactment.
- 1:36 28 February / Liber 49: Parsons returns to the Mojave alone and records a communication. His partner has gone east.
- 2:00 March / green and gold: Cup, book, dagger, flame, and a blue-faced copper talisman furnish the altar.
- 2:18 2 March / dictation: The white-robed scribe bears a lamp; Parsons wears black and writes. A disc apparatus evokes the recording equipment.
- 2:40 2 March / first ritual: The parchment is consumed. The empty black box becomes a focus of the later sequence.
- 3:02 3 March / second ritual: Scarlet with a black sash; contemplation of the black box. Its private signs are not fabricated.
- 3:24 Before dawn / third ritual: Black vestments return. Light and posture stand for the final rite; bodily injury is not enacted.
- 3:46 4 March / close the record

### Setup

- Twelve stages over 242 seconds: January's Air workings, the Mojave, Cameron's arrival, the private phase, Parsons's solitary February 28 communication and the March sequence.
- Three flies. Cameron appears in the arrival and private stages and is absent from February 28 and March.
- The March altar carries green and gold fabric, cup, book, dagger, flame and a blue-faced copper disk with a gold star; the Air Tablet is folded face-inward.
- Five cameras: overview, altar, scribe, black box and Parsons POV.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only neural windows during playback; recorded windows are actual model measurements.
- Movement follows a pre-programmed timeline. It is not selected by a supernatural agent or learned by the fixed connectome.

### Limitations

- Private rites are represented only by closed curtains and elapsed dates. The ending leaves a notebook and an empty box; no literal birth or supernatural success is asserted.
- Room layout, furniture, period disc recorder, Mojave ridgelines and gestures are approximate reconstructions. No recorded music or spoken ritual is included.
- Crowley's novel Moonchild (1929) supplies title context only and is separate from Parsons's working.

### Sources

- Jack Parsons, The Book of Babalon (1946): https://priory-of-sion.com/biblios/images/babalon.pdf
- Henrik Bogdan, The Babalon Working 1946, Numen 63 (2016): https://doi.org/10.1163/15685276-12341406
- Aleister Crowley, Moonchild (1929): https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/crowley/moonchild/index.htm

## The 31st Degree

- Experiment: No. 0042
- Topic: Rituals & ceremonies
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/degree-31/
- Added: 2026-10-03
- Cues: 147
- Supporting flies: 28
- Questions: 20
- Illustrated scenes: 87

The fly occupies the candidate's role in a complete presentation of a supplied Thirty-first Degree ritual text, from the cave prelude through four Egyptian altars, the weighing, judgment and investiture to the return to the cave.

### Setup

- Sole source: a supplied 33-page ritual text, Thirty-first Degree: Inspector Inquisitor, or Initiate of the Egyptian Mysteries (Supreme Council, 33 degrees, revision of 1/20/04), bound to the activity by checksum.
- 147 cues: two class readings and 145 ceremony blocks, including all twenty questions in order with separate response pauses.
- 28 supporting flies: twelve Egyptian roles, nine assessors, six brethren and the Seneschal.
- A hall with slate hangings, lotus capitals, a central balance carrying a heart vessel and Maat, four corner altars and a bier; fifteen chapters.
- 87 display-only holographic illustrated scenes cover all 147 cues.

### Measurement

- Only bounded retinal columns reach the model. The activity's programmed lighting cues are rendered into the canonical samples.
- Optional browser speech and synthesized gong, chords, thunder and raps are for the human observer and never enter neural input.
- Holographic illustrations and viewport cutaways do not change canonical input.

### Limitations

- The activity adds no personal candidate answers.
- The source contains internal station conflicts; the activity resolves them without adding dialogue and documents the resolution.
- Human anatomy, regalia, animal masks and gestures are approximated with procedural meshes and the fly rig. Durations and unmeasured dimensions are modeling choices.
- Copyright in the source remains with its owner; it is not asserted to be public domain.


## Goat Laboratory Concentration Trial

- Experiment: No. 0043
- Topic: History & training
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/goat-lab/
- Added: 2026-10-06
- Duration: 53 s
- Stages: 7
- Fragments: 128
- Rupture: 30 s

The fly holds both forelegs to its head in a period military test room while a goat shakes, heats, smokes and, at 30 seconds, ruptures into 128 fragments.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Face the goat: The fly plants its feet opposite the goat in the test chamber.
- 0:05 Concentrate: Both front hands rise to the sides of the head. The fly holds its stare.
- 0:14 The goat begins to shake: Small tremors build into a rapid full-body vibration.
- 0:22 Heat and smoke: The goat flushes red. Smoke pours from its back as the fly presses harder against its temples.
- 0:30 Rupture: The goat bursts outward, throwing chunks and red spray across the chamber.
- 0:32 Window and wall impacts: Chunks stick to the observation glass and painted walls, then slide down, leaving long red streaks.
- 0:44 The room settles: The fly lowers its hands. Smoke thins above the scattered remains and pooling red stains.

### Setup

- Seven stages over 53 seconds: facing the goat, concentration, shaking, heat and smoke, rupture, window and wall impacts, and the settled room.
- Fragments strike four walls, the observation window and the floor; wall fragments slide down while red streaks lengthen behind them.
- Two amber rotating beacons sweep the room during shaking and heating; a faint, viewport-only holographic spiral surrounds the goat until rupture.
- Five cameras: the test chamber, the fly's foreleg pose, the goat, observation-window impacts and the view from behind the observation glass.
- Loop is off by default; a replay control starts at the heating stage.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only live input reaches the fixed connectome model; neural weights are not changed.
- The concentration pose and the explosion are pre-programmed; the goat's sequence follows a fixed programmed timeline.
- The holographic spiral is excluded from the retinal image.

### Limitations

- The cited accounts describe an alleged attempt to stop a goat's heart by staring, not an exploding goat; heating, rupture and gore are included in the model without a documented source.
- The room is an original period-style model, not a survey of a historical facility; no historical experiment result is fabricated.
- Fragment flight uses deterministic trajectories and gravity; the subsequent slides are pre-programmed, not a tissue model.

### Sources

- Jon Ronson, 2009 NPR interview (WFAE): https://www.wfae.org/2009-11-08/walking-through-walls-and-staring-at-goats
- Jon Ronson, The Men Who Stare at Goats (Google Books): https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Men_Who_Stare_at_Goats.html?id=KrwdbEHBd6AC
- INSCOM GRILL FLAME remote-viewing session, 5 March 1981 (CIA Reading Room): https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00788R000600030001-3.pdf
- CIA History Staff overview, 27 October 2021: https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/ask-molly-did-cia-really-study-psychic-powers

## Salt Lake Temple Endowment (c. 1912)

- Experiment: No. 0044
- Topic: Rituals & ceremonies
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/salt-lake-temple/
- Added: 2026-10-02
- Stages: 75
- Duration: 16:10
- Supporting flies: 20
- Cameras: 8

The fly takes the candidate's role in a circa-1912 historical endowment visit, moving from preparation and initiatory rites through the live presentation, prayer circle and veil to the Celestial Room.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Annex / present the recommend: The candidate approaches the doorkeeper with a recommend.
- 0:12 Recorder / personal particulars: The recorder enters the candidate’s particulars before admission to the company.
- 0:22 Annex chapel / opening devotion: The company assembles for hymn, prayer and introductory instruction; audio is not reconstructed.
- 0:36 Annex passage / enter the temple: The company follows the passage into the lower corridor; footwear is removed before preparation.
- 0:52 Preparation / set clothing aside: The candidate sets aside clothing in preparation for the historical full washing.
- 1:02 Washing / head and senses: An attendant washes the head and face with accompanying blessings.
- 1:14 Washing / body and limbs: The washing continues down the body to the feet. Fly anatomy substitutes for the human body.
- 1:30 Dry with a towel: The attendant dries the candidate before anointing.
- 1:38 Anointing / head: A second attendant applies oil and pronounces the preparatory blessing.
- 1:48 Anointing / body and limbs: Anointing proceeds over the body and limbs; the fly representation is anatomical approximation.
- 2:04 Receive the garment: The candidate receives and puts on the white garment.
- 2:16 Receive the new name
- 2:26 Dress / collect the bundle: White clothing is put on and the ceremonial clothing bundle is collected.
- 2:36 Enter the lower lecture room: The class enters and takes places in the plain lower lecture room of the 1912 temple.
- 2:52 Preliminary explanation / opportunity to withdraw: The officiant explains the conditional promises and offers an opportunity to withdraw.
- 3:06 Creation / light and darkness: Live officiants enact the first creative command and report.
- 3:16 Creation / firmament and waters: The next command is given, enacted and reported.
- 3:26 Creation / land and vegetation: The narrated creation proceeds to the land and its vegetation.
- 3:36 Creation / heavenly lights: The live presentation reaches the heavenly lights; the room’s lamps brighten.
- 3:46 Creation / living creatures: The officiants describe living creatures and return to report.
- 3:56 Michael / formation of Adam: The actor representing Michael reclines, then rises as Adam.
- 4:10 Formation of Eve: Adam rests again; Eve enters and the pair stand together.
- 4:24 Process into the Garden Room: Adam and Eve lead the company into the muralled Garden Room.
- 4:42 Garden / instruction and prohibition: The pair receive the garden instruction before the divine messengers withdraw.
- 4:54 Lucifer offers fruit / Adam declines: Lucifer approaches Adam with fruit; Adam turns away.
- 5:06 Eve receives the fruit: Lucifer offers the fruit to Eve, who partakes.
- 5:18 Eve offers fruit to Adam: Eve approaches Adam; Adam takes the fruit.
- 5:30 The pair hide / return of the messengers: Adam and Eve withdraw behind the garden foliage as the messengers return.
- 5:40 The transgression is questioned: The actors come forward to answer; Lucifer is addressed.
- 5:52 Lucifer departs: Lucifer gestures defiantly and leaves the garden stage.
- 6:02 Put on the fig-leaf apron: The company opens its bundles and ties on the green aprons.
- 6:14 Consequences / promise of redemption: The Fall and a promised means of return are explained.
- 6:26 Covenant of obedience: The company rises, makes the covenant response and bows its heads. The historical gendered instruction differs from modern versions.
- 6:38 First clothing / robe and cap: The first ceremonial dressing is demonstrated; shoulder order follows the cited historical compilation, not a certified 1912 rubric.
- 6:52 First Aaronic token / communication: The officiant demonstrates the first token with the candidate. Tarsal contact represents a human hand grip.
- 7:06 First Aaronic sign: The company repeats the first sign with the left foreleg raised.
- 7:16 First historical penalty gesture: The right foreleg traces across the neck, then lowers; this is a symbolic historical gesture, with no injury.
- 7:26 Expulsion / ascend to the World Room: The company leaves the Garden and ascends to the room of the fallen world.
- 7:46 Adam prays at the altar: Adam kneels and raises his forelegs in prayer.
- 7:58 Lucifer introduces the preacher
- 8:14 Peter, James and John / first visit: Three messengers enter, question Adam and withdraw to report.
- 8:28 The messengers return and identify themselves: The messengers return; the preacher leaves Lucifer’s service.
- 8:40 Dismiss Lucifer / test the messengers: Lucifer withdraws; a token is exchanged as the messengers are accepted.
- 8:52 Second clothing / change the robe: The company changes the robe’s shoulder in the selected historical reconstruction.
- 9:06 Second Aaronic token: The second token is communicated individually, represented by foreleg contact.
- 9:20 Second Aaronic sign: The left foreleg is held at a square while the right is brought toward the chest.
- 9:30 Second historical penalty gesture: A foreleg sweeps across the chest and lowers; no physical injury is depicted.
- 9:40 Process into the Terrestrial Room: The class enters the blue upper lecture room with its altar and four-part veil.
- 9:58 Third clothing / change the robe: The next change of ceremonial clothing precedes the first Melchizedek token.
- 10:10 First Melchizedek token: The sign-of-the-nail token is represented by foreleg contact.
- 10:24 First Melchizedek sign: Both forelegs rise to a square.
- 10:34 Third historical penalty gesture: The forelegs trace across the abdomen and lower; a symbolic gesture only.
- 10:44 Fourth clothing / final shoulder change: The final shoulder change follows the historical compilation; other period accounts vary.
- 10:56 Second Melchizedek token: The patriarchal grip is communicated. This token has no accompanying penalty gesture.
- 11:10 Second Melchizedek sign / threefold motion: Forelegs lift overhead, descend to a square and lower, in three cycles.
- 11:24 Covenant / sacrifice and consecration: The company makes its response concerning dedication of time, abilities and possessions.
- 11:36 Covenant / chastity: The historical instruction addresses the men and women, followed by assent.
- 11:48 Historical oath / prayer for vengeance: The historical oath concerns praying for divine vengeance for the prophets and teaching descendants; retained for this period profile.
- 12:00 Gather around the prayer altar: Members leave their seats and form the prayer circle.
- 12:16 Review the tokens and signs: The circle reviews the four tokens and their signs in sequence.
- 12:34 Women lower their veils / join the circle: The veils are lowered and adjacent participants join forelegs.
- 12:44 True order of prayer: The leader kneels at the altar; the circle holds its linked posture and repeats the prayer in the represented rite.
- 13:02 Endowment lecture / explanation of the veil: The class returns to its seats for the concluding instruction and explanation of the veil marks.
- 13:20 Approach the veil / three knocks: The candidate approaches with an attendant, who gives three knocks.
- 13:32 Veil examination / first Aaronic token: The first token and its name are presented through the veil.
- 13:44 Veil examination / second Aaronic token: The second token and its name follow.
- 13:56 Veil examination / first Melchizedek token: The first Melchizedek token and its name follow.
- 14:08 Veil examination / second Melchizedek token: The final token is given and its name communicated at the veil.
- 14:24 Historical five points of fellowship: The attendant and candidate draw close at the veil for the historical contact posture. Fly anatomy cannot reproduce human hand and foot placement exactly.
- 14:38 Renewed knocking / request admission: The attendant renews the request; the candidate is taken by the foreleg.
- 14:48 Pass through the veil: The veil opens and the candidate passes into the Celestial Room.
- 15:04 Celestial Room / rest and reflection: The endowment concludes here. Marriage sealing, proxy baptism and second anointing are separate ordinances.
- 15:24 Return to the dressing area: The candidate leaves the Celestial Room and returns to change clothing.
- 15:42 Remove the ceremonial clothing: Robe, apron, cap and sash are packed away.
- 15:54 Leave through the annex: The candidate returns through the annex and departs.

### Setup

- 75 seekable stages over 16 minutes 10 seconds, with 20 supporting flies.
- Rooms are unfolded for inspection, with a stair from Garden to World and the Celestial Room behind the veil.
- Seven cameras (room, subject, officiants, token contact, veil, unfolded plan, first person) plus a holographic explanation camera.
- Optional viewport-only holographic diagrams explain all 75 stages. The sequence is silent, with original short summaries of the stages.

### Measurement

- Only sampled retina reaches the fixed connectome, through the existing live-retina path.
- Prayer, assent, gestures, clothing changes and participant decisions are pre-programmed.
- Holograms and wall cutaways render only in the human viewport; canonical retina retains the enclosed rooms.

### Limitations

- A historical reconstruction, not a fully authenticated start-to-finish 1912 ceremony. Some sequences follow a later composite account whose application to 1912 is uncertain.
- Rooms, dimensions, furnishings, clothing and walking paths are approximations, not a surveyed floor plan; original murals are not reproduced.
- Fly tarsi cannot reproduce human hand contacts. Signs and tokens are programmed approximations, summarized rather than spoken.

### Sources

- James E. Talmage, The House of the Lord (1912): https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45149/45149-h/45149-h.htm
- Walter M. Wolfe, Salt Lake Tribune, 9 February 1906: https://bhroberts.org/records/WGKFcc-0J7Ly1/salt_lake_tribune_reprints_walter_wolfes_account_of_the_endowment_ceremony_from_the_congressional_hearings_on_reed_smoot
- Temple Mormonism (1931), comparative transcription: https://packham.n4m.org/endow31.htm
- David John Buerger, The Development of the Mormon Temple Endowment Ceremony: https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/the-development-of-the-mormon-temple-endowment-ceremony/

## Torture Chamber: Six Documented Devices

- Experiment: No. 0045
- Topic: History & training
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/torture-chamber/
- Added: 2026-10-02
- Stations: 6
- Circuit: 180 s
- Direct-drive amplitude: 0–1.2
- Sweep trial: 200 + 800 + 200 ms

The fly tours a vaulted stone chamber and is placed at six documented early-modern devices in turn, while optional bounded direct stimulation and paired dose sweeps measure the fixed connectome model's response.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Rack: A timber bed with end rollers and limb restraints. The fly-scale demonstration turns the windlass and tensions the lines.
- 0:30 Scavenger’s Daughter: An iron compression frame holding a crouched subject. This follows the kneeling form displayed by Historic Royal Palaces.
- 1:00 Hanging manacles
- 1:30 Strappado
- 2:00 Thumbscrews / foreleg press: A screw-operated vice adapted to fly forelegs. Flies have no thumbs; the translation is visible in the station name.
- 2:30 The Boot

### Setup

- Six stations: the rack, the Scavenger's Daughter, hanging manacles, the strappado, thumbscrews configured as a foreleg press, and the boot fitted to one hind leg.
- A full circuit lasts 180 seconds; each 30-second station covers approach, mounting, restraint, demonstration, release and recovery.
- Barred cells, torch brackets, hanging chains and two robed attendants; station cameras, an interior aisle camera and a roof-off overview.
- Release / stop signal selects retina-only input, pauses the scene and releases the fly.

### Measurement

- Default input is retina only. Optional direct contact/load drives the station's annotated tactile, chordotonal or campaniform populations; direct loom/escape drives LC4/LPLC2 and DNp01, at amplitude 0–1.2.
- The 4-dose sweep runs paired trials at 0, ¼, ½ and full amplitude (200 ms baseline, 800 ms stimulus, 200 ms recovery) with a fixed noise seed, restoring engine state after each pair.
- Directly driven cells are excluded from downstream aggregates; full records persist in SQLite.
- Fittings, mechanical movement and fly reactions are pre-programmed.

### Limitations

- No injury physics is computed, and no pain, sentience, subjective experience or learning is inferred.
- The architecture is a generic vaulted-chamber model, not a reconstruction of one historical chamber.
- Rates saturate near 50 Hz at 20 ms steps; saturation and weak propagation are retained as measured.
- Red spike highlighting during the shaking phase is a programmed display color, not a pain measurement.

### Sources

- Historic Royal Palaces, Torture at the Tower: https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/torture-at-the-tower-exhibition/
- Rijksmuseum, De Strappado (after Callot): https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/object/De-Strappado--63bce61f81ba59e92585f3d7e999ecea
- University of Dundee, Judicial torture in early modern Scotland (Allan Kennedy): https://dundeescottishculture.org/history/judicial-torture-in-early-modern-scotland/
- ai-torture-chamber repository (GitHub): https://github.com/terrafying/ai-torture-chamber

## Skull and Bones: Connubial Bliss

- Experiment: No. 0046
- Topic: Rituals & ceremonies
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/skull-and-bones/
- Added: 2026-10-02
- Duration: 45 s
- Members: 10
- Cameras: 5

The fly lies supine in an open, velvet-lined coffin while ten cloaked fly members stand around it, in a 45-second pre-programmed sequence beneath a white fly-head emblem and the number 322.

### Timeline

- 0:00 The circle holds: Cloaked fly members surround an open, velvet-lined coffin. The unclothed subject lies on its back beneath a white fly head, crossed fly limbs and the number 322.
- 0:06 The first slow taps: One foreleg taps near the underside of the abdominal tip. The surrounding flies join in, each tapping itself at its own pace.
- 0:16 The tapping accelerates: The subject increases its tempo. The surrounding flies continue their own taps with varied timing, stroke height and intensity.
- 0:32 The foreleg stops: The tapping ends. The foreleg settles against the abdomen and the body holds still.
- 0:34 A brief body spasm: The fly shudders as white ectoplasm emerges from the abdominal tip and splashes inside the coffin.
- 0:36 The ritual ends: The subject settles and remains still. The last droplets land, leaving white splashes on the lining. The cloaked circle lowers its heads.

### Setup

- A stone chamber with dark curtains, candle stands and a velvet-lined hexagonal coffin.
- Ten cloaked fly members surround the coffin. A white anatomical fly head and two crossed fly forelegs hang above a 322 wall inscription.
- Six cues over 45 seconds: an opening hold, a programmed foreleg rhythm that accelerates from 0.65 Hz to 3.8 Hz, a two-second stop, a brief body shake and a nine-second closing hold as the members bow their heads.
- Each member keeps an independent, deterministic rhythm. Five cameras: chamber, coffin close-up, overhead, emblem and subject POV. Loop is off by default.

### Measurement

- Only the eye image reaches the fixed connectome, through the shared retinal-only path.
- All movement is pre-programmed; seeking computes each pose directly from scene time.

### Limitations

- The sequence is modeled without a documented source and is not a verified reconstruction of a private ceremony.
- Gesture locations are approximations on the shared fly body model; no physiological process is modelled.


## Nutty Putty Cave Entrapment (2009)

- Experiment: No. 0047
- Topic: Rides & exploration
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/nutty-putty/
- Added: 2026-09-30
- Stages: 8
- Duration: 150 s
- Descent described by NSS: approx. 60°

In a fly-scale limestone passage, the fly crawls through a left-hand bend and descends head-first into a steep squeeze, where it becomes wedged; two rescuer flies reach it and attempt a short haul.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Enter the crawlway: The fly crawls between low, irregular limestone walls, following its lamp into the passage.
- 0:18 The left-hand bend: The crawlway turns left and drops away. The ceiling lowers as the fly advances head first.
- 0:36 Head first into the squeeze: The fly descends the steep slot. Its wings lie along its body and its legs draw inward.
- 0:58 Wedged below the bend: The thorax reaches the constriction. Small leg movements continue, but the body cannot advance or turn around.
- 1:22 A rescuer reaches the passage: A second fly approaches from above. Another waits farther back where the passage is wider.
- 1:44 A small movement upward: A simplified haul line tightens. The trapped fly moves a short distance toward the bend, with no room to turn.
- 2:04 Back into the constriction: The line slackens and the fly settles back into the same narrow pocket. This condenses the reported rescue setback.
- 2:16 The passage remains closed: The score ends with the fly still wedged. John Edward Jones died on November 25, 2009; Nutty Putty Cave was subsequently sealed. The scene holds here.

### Setup

- Eight seekable stages over 150 seconds: crawlway, left bend, descent, entrapment, rescuers, a short upward haul, a setback and a final stationary hold.
- The scene is based on the November 24–25, 2009 entrapment of John Edward Jones, who died after the rescue effort; the cave was subsequently sealed.
- Two anatomical rescuer flies and a simple haul line condense the rescue sequence; the final stage holds the wedged fly without an injury or death animation.
- Cave and constriction cutaway cameras remove the near wall for display only; the trapped-fly POV and rescuer cameras retain both walls.
- Loop is off by default; a replay control starts at the descent.

### Measurement

- Only rendered retinal columns reach the fixed connectome model; the eye image always retains the complete, closed cave.
- Movement and rope tension are pre-programmed; there is no contact solver, distress model or learned escape behavior.

### Limitations

- An original fly-scale passage, not a cave survey; passage dimensions, lamp positions, figures, motion, timing and rope geometry are approximations.
- The actual pulley system is not reconstructed; contemporary reports use differing passage names, so stages carry descriptive labels.

### Sources

- National Speleological Society, American Caving Accidents 2009–2010, pp. 15–16: https://caves.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ACA09-10-Final.pdf
- Christian Science Monitor, November 2009: https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2009/1128/p02s07-usgn.html

## Philadelphia Experiment Legend Model

- Experiment: No. 0048
- Topic: History & training
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/philadelphia-experiment/
- Added: 2026-10-02
- Stages: 7
- Duration: 114 s
- Cameras: 7

In a model of the legend, the fly stands aboard a destroyer escort as experimental coils energize, a green field closes around the ship, and the vessel disappears, rematerializes in another harbor and returns with crew embedded in its steel.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Philadelphia / moored ship: Crew flies take stations aboard the destroyer escort. Power cables lead from the pier to experimental coils.
- 0:14 Generators spin up: Coils energize; electrical arcs bridge the apparatus.
- 0:30 The green field closes: A luminous fog thickens around the railings and superstructure.
- 0:50 The ship disappears: The hull becomes translucent inside the green field, then disappears from its original berth.
- 1:06 Another harbor: The ship rematerializes against a different waterfront before the field returns.
- 1:24 Return to Philadelphia: The green shell contracts as the ship returns. One crew fly is buried waist-deep in the deck; others protrude from the hull and bridge bulkhead.
- 1:42 Power down / trapped crew: The mist disperses, revealing crew still embedded in the steel. Their exposed forelegs move independently while their bodies remain lodged in place.

### Setup

- Seven seekable stages over 114 seconds: moored ship, generator spin-up, the green field, disappearance, another harbor, return and power-down.
- On return, crew flies remain lodged in the deck, hull and bridge bulkhead, with independently moving forelegs.
- Seven cameras, including three close views of the embedded crew and a view of both harbors.
- Scene selector, previous/next, speed, loop and timeline controls; a replay control starts as the field closes.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only live acquisition; the shared fly, neuron identities and fixed weights are unchanged.
- Disappearance, fog, electrical arcs and crew positions follow a pre-programmed timeline.

### Limitations

- A model of a legend, not a documented Navy event; the Naval History and Heritage Command reports no documentary support for the alleged event.
- Ship proportions and escort geometry are approximations; the coils, fog and teleportation are rendered effects with no documentary support.

### Sources

- Naval History and Heritage Command, Philadelphia Experiment: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/p/philadelphia-experiment.html

## Apollo Landing (Studio Reveal)

- Experiment: No. 0049
- Topic: Film & media
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/apollo-studio/
- Added: 2026-10-02
- Cues: 7
- Duration: 122 s

The fly descends a lunar module ladder, sets a flag and collects a sample. Zooming out reveals a director and camera crew beyond the edge of the set; they are included in the model without a documented source.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Eagle / final descent: The lander descends over a grey cratered surface, lifting a low cloud of dust.
- 0:22 Contact light / touchdown: The footpads settle and the descent plume subsides.
- 0:34 The hatch opens: A suited fly emerges onto the porch above the ladder.
- 0:44 Down the ladder: The astronaut grips successive rungs, lowers onto the footpad, then steps onto the surface.
- 1:04 Flag and photographs: Two astronaut flies set the flag and pose beside their equipment.
- 1:26 Collecting lunar samples: The subject crosses the dust, gathers a specimen and returns to the lander.
- 1:46 Behind the camera

### Setup

- Seven cues over 122 seconds: final descent, touchdown, hatch, ladder, flag and photographs, sample collection, and behind the camera.
- Two astronaut flies; approximate procedural lunar module, porch, ladder, footpads, sample equipment and supported flag.
- Orbit and zoom out from the lunar camera, or use Reveal studio, to inspect the set.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only neural windows during playback, with fixed weights.
- The lunar floor and film crew coexist in one scene, so revealing the set does not swap geometry or alter the canonical eye image.
- All motion is pre-programmed.

### Limitations

- The studio and crew are modeled without a documented source. Apollo 11 landed on the Moon; the activity makes no historical allegation.
- Lunar hardware is approximate and procedural.

### Sources

- NASA, Apollo 11 mission: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/apollo-11/

## Double-Slit Detector

- Experiment: No. 0050
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/double-slit/
- Runs in the browser: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/double-slit/run/
- Added: 2026-10-02
- Duration: 60 s, loops
- Rotation range: ±180°
- Fringe visibility: 1 detector off / 0 detector on

The fly stands beside a two-slit apparatus. Rotating the fly to face the apparatus enables a programmed which-path detector; turning it away disables the detector and restores the interference pattern.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Source → slits → screen: Rotate the fly in the controls. Facing the apparatus enables path detection; turning away disables it and restores interference. The pattern updates immediately.

### Setup

- A 60 s sequence that loops by default: particle source, two open slits, path detector, animated particle arrivals and a density curve.
- Controls: Fly rotation (saved, bounded to ±180°), Face detector and Turn away; changes apply while paused or playing.
- Cameras: Experiment / fly and screen, Screen / arrival pattern, Paths / overhead, Fly / detector switch.

### Measurement

- Real retinal-only neural acquisition during playback; neural weights are fixed.
- The detector state follows the fly's rotation control; it is a programmed switch, not a neural output.
- Screen density is a normalized Gaussian envelope multiplied by 1 + visibility·cos(38x); visibility is 0 with the detector on and 1 with it off.

### Limitations

- Eyesight or consciousness alone does not remove interference; the control switches a physical which-path detector in the rendered apparatus.
- Seeded samples illustrate arrivals; this is not a quantum solver or a calibrated quantum simulation, and the pattern is not a neural result.

### Sources

- Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. III, Ch. 1: https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/III_01.html

## The Shining: Six Scenes

- Experiment: No. 0051
- Topic: Film & media
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/shining-medley/
- Added: 2026-10-02
- Scenes: 6
- Duration: 214 s
- Axe blows: 8

The fly and supporting flies move through six silent Overlook scenes, from a tricycle ride through the patterned corridor to the Gold Room bar.

### Timeline

- 0:00 01 / The Big Wheel corridor: The fly pedals a red tricycle through the patterned hotel corridor, over carpet and wooden thresholds.
- 0:40 02 / The twins: The tricycle stops. Two fly girls in matching blue dresses and white collars stand hand in hand at the far end of the hall.
- 1:06 03 / The bathroom door: A plaid-clad fly grips the axe with both forelegs, swings repeatedly, splits individual door boards and peers through the widening opening.
- 1:48 04 / The red elevators: The elevator doors part. A deep red wave floods the lobby, reaches the waiting fly and leaves its body covered in stage blood.
- 2:16 05 / The snowy hedge maze: The fly enters branching passages, reaches dead ends, retraces its footprints and eventually finds the exit through the snow.
- 3:04 06 / The Gold Room: The subject approaches the illuminated bar. A bartender fly serves a glass beneath warm geometric lights while the ballroom waits beyond.

### Setup

- Six scenes over 214 seconds: the Big Wheel corridor, the twins, the bathroom door, the red elevators, the snowy hedge maze and the Gold Room.
- Twin flies in blue dresses; eight axe blows and a breakaway door; an elevator flood that coats the subject; a maze with false turns, footprints and an exit.
- A Scene selector jumps to any of the six scenes; speed, loop and timeline controls are shared with the other timeline-based activities.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only neural windows during playback, with fixed weights.
- The subject's own clothing and coating are excluded from retinal capture, matching the shared fly body exclusion; other flies remain visible.
- All movement follows a pre-programmed, seekable timeline.

### Limitations

- Sets and timing are approximations, not frame-accurate replicas. No film footage, soundtrack or dialogue is included.
- The red flood is a programmed wave, splash and coating effect, not a fluid simulation or an injury model.

### Sources

- The Shining (Warner Bros.): https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/shining

## Chocolate River Boat Tunnel (1971)

- Experiment: No. 0052
- Topic: Rides & exploration
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/chocolate-river-tunnel/
- Added: 2026-10-02
- Stages: 7
- Duration: 168 s

The fly boards a pink paddle boat in a confectionery garden, travels down a chocolate river and passes through a dark tunnel of projected eyes, crawling silhouettes and spirals before arriving at a calm landing.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Chocolate garden / embarkation: Passengers gather on the candy-colored quay. Wonka welcomes the subject aboard the pink paddle boat.
- 0:18 Take your seat: The subject crosses the gangplank and sits among the fly passengers; the oarsmen take their stations.
- 0:40 Down the chocolate river: Paddles churn the brown river as the boat leaves candy trees and the waterfall behind.
- 1:08 The tunnel mouth: The boat enters a narrowing stone arch and the garden light disappears behind it.
- 1:24 Faster through the dark: Colored light sweeps across the passengers. Huge eyes, crawling silhouettes and rotating spirals appear along the tunnel.
- 2:00 The tunnel accelerates: The boat pitches and rolls through a dense sequence of projections while Wonka remains at the stern.
- 2:28 Sudden calm / arrival: The flashing images stop. Warm light returns as the boat slows at the next landing.

### Setup

- Seven seekable stages over 168 seconds: garden embarkation, boarding, the river, the tunnel mouth, the dark passage, acceleration and arrival.
- All figures are flies: fly passengers, oarsmen and a host fly at the stern.
- Boat-relative passenger, front-passenger and stern cameras, plus loading-dock and route-cutaway views.
- Scene selector, previous/next, speed, loop and timeline controls; a replay control starts at the tunnel mouth.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only live acquisition: canonical eye images reach the fixed connectome model and measured spikes drive the neural highlights.
- Boat motion, passenger posture and tunnel projections are pre-programmed; timeline controls do not train a neural policy.
- The route cutaway applies only to viewport drawing; the retina receives the complete scene.

### Limitations

- A silent, original procedural model based on the 1971 film's boat sequence; no film footage, lyrics or soundtrack are reproduced.
- Geometry and timing are approximations, not frame-accurate replicas; tunnel projections are original canvas images.

### Sources

- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), Warner Bros.: https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/willy-wonka-chocolate-factory

## The Ludovico Technique

- Experiment: No. 0053
- Topic: Film & media
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ludovico/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Retinal columns: 32
- Measurement window: 200 ms (10 x 20 ms)
- Maximum video length: 6 hours
- Cameras: 6

The fly is seated in a restraint chair facing a projection screen that plays any selected YouTube video or locally prepared film. Each screened frame reaches the connectome model as 32 luminance columns.

### Setup

- Procedural screening room modeled on the Ludovico sequence of A Clockwork Orange (1971): restraint chair, large screen, projection booth and tiered observer seating.
- An attendant fly applies eye drops on a fixed schedule; physicians and a recording technician watch from behind a console.
- Media source: a YouTube URL, reduced to an 11-character video ID and prepared at up to 720p, or any film in the local films folder. Live streams and videos longer than six hours are refused.
- Controls: transport, speed 0.25-2x, loop, monitor sound (muted by default), restraints, eye drops and framing (screen fills the eye, or seated in the room).
- Six cameras: screening room, subject, eyes and lid locks, over-the-shoulder, observers and projection booth.

### Measurement

- One held frame per measured 200 ms window (ten 20 ms steps) reaches the model as 32 column brightness averages. Colour, vertical detail and sound are not model inputs.
- The panel reports measured spikes for LC4 + LPLC2 (looming), LC10a (small target), HS + H2 (horizontal motion), DNa02 (steering) and DNp01 (giant fiber).
- Restraints, lid locks, electrode leads and eye drops are rendered objects excluded from the canonical eye image.

### Limitations

- Weights stay fixed. Nothing in the activity is aversion conditioning or learning.
- Flies have no eyelids; the lid locks are modeled on the apparatus in the film and have no anatomical function.
- No footage, soundtrack or dialogue from the 1971 film is included. Screening audio is for the human monitor only.

### Sources

- yt-dlp (video preparation tool): https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp

## The War Room

- Experiment: No. 0054
- Topic: Film & media
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/war-room/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Cues: 10
- Duration: 130 s
- Supporting flies: 14
- Cameras: 8

The fly sits at the War Room's round table as an aide, then becomes the B-52 commander who rides the released bomb toward a snowfield, in a procedural model of the sets of Dr. Strangelove (1964) populated entirely by flies.

### Timeline

- 0:00 The War Room assembles: Fly generals, aides and the president take their places at the round table beneath the suspended ring light. The buffet waits along the far wall.
- 0:16 The Big Board: Bomber tracks advance across the backlit wall maps toward their targets. The subject watches from its seat.
- 0:30 Tracks turn back: One by one the tracks reverse toward their bases. A single bomber with a damaged radio keeps its course.
- 0:42 The B-52 crew: On the cramped flight deck the commander fly trades its helmet for a cowboy hat while the crew works the instrument panels.
- 0:58 Low-level run: The bomber drops to hug the snowy ridges, its eight engines trailing grey exhaust.
- 1:12 Jammed bomb-bay doors: Over the target the damaged doors stay shut. The commander climbs into the bay and works at the sparking wiring panel beside the bombs.
- 1:26 The doors open: The repaired circuit snaps the doors open. The bomb drops with the commander astride it.
- 1:34 Riding the bomb: The commander straddles the falling bomb and waves the hat while the snowfield rises toward it.
- 1:48 Flash: A white flash fills the view. The scene shows light only, not destruction.
- 1:54 Clouds on the horizon: From a distant ridge, stylized clouds rise one after another along the horizon.

### Setup

- Procedural sets based on Ken Adam's designs: a triangular concrete War Room with round baize table, suspended ring light, Big Board and buffet; a B-52 flight deck and bomb bay.
- Fourteen supporting flies: a president, Air Force general, ambassador, scientist, four Joint Chiefs and two aides at the table, plus a four-fly bomber crew.
- Ten cues over 130 seconds: assembly, the Big Board, recall, cockpit, low-level run, jammed bomb-bay doors, release, the bomb ride, a white flash and clouds on the horizon.
- Eight cameras, including flight-deck, chase, bomb-bay and bomb-ride tracking views.
- A Film monochrome toggle (on by default) applies a display-only black-and-white grade.

### Measurement

- During playback the connectome model receives retinal input only, through the shared live-retina path.
- Bomber tracks, flight path, bomb motion, movement of the other flies and the ending clouds are pre-programmed.
- The monochrome grade does not alter the canonical eye image.

### Limitations

- No footage, dialogue or soundtrack from the film is included.
- The flash shows light only, not destruction; the ending clouds are simplified approximations.

### Sources

- BFI Sight and Sound: Ken Adam's finest sets: https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/news/designing-dreams-nightmares-ken-adam-his-finest-sets

## The Impossible Overlook

- Experiment: No. 0055
- Topic: Film & media
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/overlook-floorplan/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Cues: 12
- Duration: 178 s
- Documented observations: 10

The fly walks a joined procedural model of the sets of The Shining (1980) to inspect ten documented spatial contradictions and continuity changes, then links them on a corkboard with red string.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Into the lobby: The fly enters by the main doors, crosses the lobby past the reception counter and the hedge-maze model, and heads for the office door on the left.
- 0:14 Ullman’s window: The fly takes the interview chair. Behind Ullman’s desk a bright window shows daylight and foliage.
- 0:30 Cigarette and pen: Leaning over the desk, the fly watches the ashtray and the white pen beside the calendar as the shot alternates.
- 0:44 Behind the office wall: Out of the office, right into the hall, and left along the back wall of the office. On this side the wall is solid.
- 1:02 A television without a cord: In the lobby, Wendy rests on the sofa and Danny sits on a blanket. The set plays, but no cord runs from it.
- 1:16 Lobby to Colorado Lounge: The fly walks north into the Colorado Lounge, whose long axis runs crosswise to the lobby’s.
- 1:30 The chair behind Jack: From Wendy’s side of the writing table: a ladder-back chair and small table against the wall behind Jack appear and disappear as the shot alternates.
- 1:46 White typewriter, grey typewriter: Close on Jack’s writing table. The typewriter alternates between the earlier white machine and Tuesday’s grey one.
- 1:58 Behind the five windows: The fly walks the tall window wall of the lounge, then the hallway that runs behind those windows.
- 2:10 The Room 237 corridor: Upstairs, along the hexagon carpet above the lounge, to the door of Room 237. Its neighbours back onto the stairwell.
- 2:28 Danny’s door: In the Boulder apartment, the sticker on Danny’s bedroom door appears and disappears as the shot alternates.
- 2:40 Pin the evidence: At the corkboard, the fly links the observations with red string: two impossible windows, impossible halls, and props that change between shots.

### Setup

- Twelve cues over 178 seconds: lobby, Ullman's office window, desk, the hall behind the office, the lobby television, the lobby-to-lounge turn, the chair behind Jack, the typewriter, the lounge windows, the Room 237 corridor, Danny's door and the evidence board.
- Each observation names its film scene and published source rather than an unverified timestamp.
- Continuity shot control: alternate the documented A/B prop states as cut (every 1-8 s, default 3 s) or hold either state.
- An optional investigation overlay (on by default) shows impossible-architecture volumes, routes and an evidence card.

### Measurement

- Continuity props change in the scene geometry itself, so each documented change reaches the canonical eye image and the model's retinal input.
- The architecture overlay and evidence card are display-only and never part of the eye image.
- The walk-through and the board pinning are pre-programmed.

### Limitations

- A composite walk-through constructed for this activity. Room proportions, set dressing and the joined floor plan are approximations.
- No footage, dialogue or soundtrack is included.

### Sources

- Juli Kearns, Maps of the Overlook (Idyllopus Press): https://idyllopuspress.com/idyllopus/film/sh_maps.htm
- Juli Kearns, The Shining part 2: The Interview: https://idyllopuspress.com/idyllopus/film/shining_interview.htm
- Juli Kearns, The Shining part 5: Tuesday: https://idyllopuspress.com/idyllopus/film/shining_tuesday.htm
- Rob Ager, The Shining analysis, ch. 4 (Collative Learning): https://collativelearning.com/the%20shining%20-%20chap%204.html
- Rob Ager, The Shining analysis, ch. 13 (Collative Learning): https://collativelearning.com/the%20shining%20-%20chap%2013.html

## The Star Gate

- Experiment: No. 0056
- Topic: Film & media
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/stargate-corridor/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Cues: 8
- Duration: 146 s
- Frames per window: 10
- Cameras: 6

The fly rides a small white pod through slit-scan light planes, nebulae and false-colour landscapes into a lit-floor bedroom while horizontal-motion, vertical-motion and looming populations are measured.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Jupiter and the drifting monolith: The fly sits in a small white pod among the moons of a banded giant planet. A black monolith tumbles slowly ahead.
- 0:12 Slit-scan corridor / horizontal planes: Streaming planes of coloured light open above and below the pod and rush toward the fly from a distant vanishing point.
- 0:38 Nebulae and jewels: The planes give way to slowly blooming nebulae. Faceted, glowing jewels hover and drift past the pod.
- 0:58 Slit-scan corridor / vertical walls: The light planes return as two vertical walls on either side, streaming past at the selected speed.
- 1:16 Colour-filtered landscapes: The pod skims low over canyons and buttes rendered in shifting false colours and negative-like palettes.
- 1:40 The pod in the bedroom: The pod rests in a neoclassical bedroom with an illuminated floor. The fly climbs out onto the glowing grid.
- 1:52 Across the lit floor: The fly crosses the floor past an older fly dining alone. An even older fly reclines in the bed.
- 2:10 The monolith at the foot of the bed: A monolith stands at the foot of the bed. The oldest fly raises a foreleg toward it while the subject watches.

### Setup

- Eight cues over 146 seconds: Jupiter and a drifting monolith, a horizontal-plane corridor, nebulae and jewels, a vertical-wall corridor, colour-filtered landscapes, arrival, the lit floor and the monolith at the foot of the bed.
- Corridor speed control from 0.25x to 3x; light planes follow the timeline or are fixed as horizontal, vertical or a four-sided tunnel.
- In the bedroom the subject passes an older fly dining alone; an even older fly reclines in the bed.
- Six cameras: pod over-the-shoulder, facing the fly, compound-eye close-up, corridor wide, bedroom and monolith.

### Measurement

- The model receives 10-frame retinal sequences: one 32-column frame for each 20 ms step.
- Measured readouts during playback: horizontal motion (HS + H2), vertical motion (VS) and looming (LC4 + LPLC2).
- The journey and all scene motion are pre-programmed.

### Limitations

- Only 32 column luminance averages reach the model; vertical structure and colour never do. Horizontal planes mainly create vertical image motion, which this retina largely discards.
- Light planes, nebulae, jewels, landscapes and the bedroom are shader and mesh approximations. No film footage, artwork or soundtrack is reproduced.

### Sources

- 2001: A Space Odyssey (Warner Bros.): https://www.warnerbros.com/movies/2001-space-odyssey

## Alien Autopsy (1995)

- Experiment: No. 0057
- Topic: Film & media
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/alien-autopsy/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Cues: 9
- Duration: 126 s

The fly films a purported "1947" autopsy reel of a draped cast figure; the camera then pulls back to reveal the 1995 plywood set built inside a London flat.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Film leader / “1947”: A countdown leader runs out. The reel is presented as 16 mm military film from 1947 — it was shot in London in 1995.
- 0:08 The “autopsy room”: The hand-held camera fly pans across white walls, a wall clock, a wall telephone, an instrument tray and a draped figure on the table.
- 0:22 Suited examiners: Two figures in white hooded suits with narrow visors take their places. An observer in a surgical mask watches through a glass window.
- 0:36 The examination (non-graphic): The examiners measure the cast figure with calipers and lift a six-fingered hand. Nothing is cut on screen.
- 0:58 Out of focus at the key moments: The camera drifts out of focus and the examiners’ backs block the view — features critics noted in the 1995 footage.
- 1:10 Cut / the reel runs out: The film flashes to white. The lights come up in colour.
- 1:16 Pull back / a living room in Camden: The camera pulls back out of a three-walled plywood set built inside a 1990s London flat: wallpaper, a sash window, film lamps on stands.
- 1:36 The crew of 1995: Hoods come off. The sculptor who built the dummy also played the chief examiner; the lighting crew resets the lamps.
- 1:52 2006 / “a restoration”: In 2006 Santilli called the film a “restoration” of footage he said he had seen; no original reel has been produced. The set goes dark.

### Setup

- Nine cues over 126 seconds: six for the "1947" footage (leader, room, suited examiners, examination, loss of focus, cut) and three for the reveal (pull-back, crew, the 2006 "restoration").
- Two examiners in white hooded suits and a masked observer behind a glass window; the body is a simplified, sheet-draped cast figure.
- Controls: a viewport-only "1947" film look, a sheet over the figure and viewport captions.

### Measurement

- Retinal input only. The retina always receives the unfiltered scene, without the black-and-white film look.
- Fly movement and camera work are pre-programmed.

### Limitations

- The 1995 film was produced on a constructed set with a cast figure; the activity makes no claim of an actual alien.
- Non-graphic: nothing is cut on screen.

### Sources

- Alien Autopsy (1995 film), Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_Autopsy_(1995_film)

## The Vault of the Adepti

- Experiment: No. 0058
- Topic: Rituals & ceremonies
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/vault-adepti/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Cues: 17
- Duration: 312 s
- Vault sides: 7
- Squares per wall: 40

The fly occupies the aspirant's role in the Adeptus Minor grade ceremony in the seven-sided Vault of Christian Rosenkreutz, following the three Points of the Stella Matutina ritual published by Israel Regardie.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Opening of the Tomb: Knocks. The Chief, Second and Third Adepts enter the Vault and stand East, South and North. Their wands meet above the circular altar while they analyse the key word I.N.R.I. and give the L.V.X. signs.
- 0:22 First Point / the aspirant at the Portal: The Vault is shut behind drawn curtains and the Second Adept presides. Hodos Chamelionis introduces the aspirant, who proclaims the grades already held.
- 0:36 The trial of humility: Titles do not open the Tomb. The aspirant withdraws and returns in the black robe of mourning, a chain about the neck and the forelegs loosely tied behind; the introducer shows the Sword and Serpent.
- 0:52 Prayer before the curtained door: All face East and kneel. The Second Adept prays. The aspirant’s forelegs are untied and the aspirant remains kneeling while being exhorted to humility.
- 1:06 Bound to the Cross of Suffering: Cords are passed loosely about the waist and feet against the Cross of Suffering; two Adepti stand at either side. The aspirant raises the Rose Crucifix in both forelegs.
- 1:22 The Obligation: Repeating after the Second Adept, the aspirant takes ten clauses, Kether to Malkuth: a pure life, secrecy, obedience to the Chiefs, private practice, the Great Work, no evil use, equality of the sexes, study, and care with strangers.
- 1:46 The sign of the cross / release: The dagger is dipped in wine; its point marks a small cross at brow, feet, hands and heart. It is a sign, not a wound. The aspirant is released, the chain and mourning robe are removed and the crossed sashes restored.
- 2:02 The legend of Christian Rosenkreutz: The Third Adept recounts C.R.C.’s travels and the founding of the Fraternity. The curtain is drawn back on the hidden door: POST CXX ANNOS PATEBO, 1484. The aspirant withdraws with the Chief’s wand and crux.
- 2:20 Second Point / the closed Pastos: Unseen, the Chief Adept lies in the Pastos as C.R.C., arms crossed over crook and scourge, the Rose Cross on the breast. The circular altar stands over the lid; Elemental Tablets and Kerubic emblems guard the door.
- 2:36 The Vault of seven sides: The door opens on a tomb of seven sides, each five feet broad and eight high. The Second passes by the North to the East; the aspirant stands in the North. A rose lights the white ceiling; the altar bears its Latin inscriptions.
- 2:58 The chain and the Rose Crucifix: Kneeling with wands joined over the altar, the aspirant accepts the chain of self-sacrifice, rises with forelegs extended as a cross, is marked anew and raises the Rose Crucifix to ask that the Pastos be opened.
- 3:16 The Pastos is opened: The altar is moved aside and the lid lifted on the Chief Adept. The aspirant touches the Rose Cross on the Chief’s breast with the wand: “Out of the darkness let the light arise.” Crook and scourge in hand, the aspirant leaves.
- 3:36 Third Point / the empty Pastos: Outside the Vault the empty Pastos lies head to the East with its lid alongside. The Second and Third Adepts, cloaks laid aside, sit at head and foot and point to the lid’s two paintings.
- 3:54 The Chief Adept risen: The door is opened. The aspirant kneels west of the altar while the Chief stands in the East with forelegs extended and invokes the White Brilliance.
- 4:14 Received as Adeptus Minor: Raised with forelegs extended as a cross, then crossed on the breast, the aspirant is turned to the West. The three Adepts join wands above the aspirant’s head and touch the crux to head, heart and body.
- 4:32 The symbolism of the Vault: The altar is moved aside: white ceiling, rainbow walls of forty squares, black floor where the seven-headed red dragon is trodden down three times. Outside, the grip of the grade is given across the Pastos.
- 4:56 Closing of the Tomb: Knocks. The 120 princes of Darius are recalled; the Chief closes the door and draws the curtains. Ex Deo Nascimur · In Yeheshua Morimur · Per Spiritum Sanctum Reviviscimus.

### Setup

- Seventeen cues over 312 seconds, from the Opening of the Tomb through the three Points to the Closing.
- Officers: the Chief, Second and Third Adepts and an introducer, with the aspirant.
- A seven-sided vault, each wall five feet broad and eight feet high at a model scale of 0.28 units per foot, with forty coloured squares per wall, a circular altar, the Pastos and a rose on the white ceiling.
- Controls: square colouring mixed or juxtaposed (both permitted by Regardie) and a viewport cutaway.

### Measurement

- Retinal input only. The aspirant's retina always sees the closed room; the cutaway applies only to viewport cameras.
- The ceremony, gestures and pacing are programmed from the published text.

### Limitations

- Paraphrased from Regardie's The Golden Dawn, vol. II (1938), with the Vault as described in the Fama Fraternitatis (1614). Three Points are condensed into about five minutes.
- Fly participants, model scale, lighting and pacing are reconstruction choices. Cords and the wine-dipped dagger are shown as gentle, non-graphic signs.
- The activity represents a historical rite and makes no claim that the ritual has any effect.

### Sources

- Israel Regardie, The Golden Dawn, vol. II (1938), Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/IsraelRegardie-TheGoldenDawn-Vol2-1938

## Haunted Estate Dark Ride

- Experiment: No. 0060
- Topic: Rides & exploration
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/haunted-estate/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Stages: 13
- Duration: 182 s
- Default glass reflectance: 0.04
- Cameras: 7

The fly walks through a candlelit foyer and a stretching room, then boards a continuously moving clamshell vehicle on a theme-park dark ride, passing a Pepper's ghost ballroom illusion, an attic, a graveyard and a mirror crypt.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Foyer: The fly and four fly guests wait in a candlelit foyer. Above the fireplace, a portrait ages into a skeleton.
- 0:10 The stretching room: The octagonal room has no windows and no doors. Its walls stretch and four portraits lengthen, revealing what each fly was standing on. Lightning shows the cupola.
- 0:26 Portrait corridor: Lightning flashes along the windows. Each portrait turns ghostly while the flash lasts.
- 0:36 Board a Doom Buggy: The endless chain of clamshell buggies never stops. The fly steps off the moving belt into a buggy beside a companion; the lap bar lowers.
- 0:46 The endless hallway: The buggy turns to face a corridor that seems to have no end. A candelabrum floats in midair.
- 0:58 Conservatory: Among dead flowers, a coffin lid lifts a little. Two tarsi push from inside.
- 1:08 Corridor of doors: Doors bulge and knockers rattle on both sides. A clock with thirteen hours spins at the end of the hall.
- 1:18 Séance circle: The buggies circle a dark round room. A fortune-teller fly’s head glows inside a floating crystal ball while instruments orbit the table.
- 1:34 The Grand Hall: From the balcony the fly looks down through tilted glass. Ghost flies waltz, dine around a cake and play the organ; none of them is physically in the hall.
- 2:00 The attic: Wedding portraits and trunks fill the attic. A ghost bride fly holds a candle beneath the rafters.
- 2:14 Down to the graveyard: The buggy tips backward through the attic window and descends through crooked trees. A caretaker fly holds up a lantern; busts sing, a ghost band plays and a tea party floats.
- 2:42 The mirror crypt: The buggy turns toward tall mirrors. In the reflection, a ghost fly is sitting beside the riders; in the buggy itself there is no one.
- 2:54 Unload: The chain carries the buggy back to the moving belt. The lap bar lifts and the fly steps out.

### Setup

- 13 seekable stages over 182 seconds, from the foyer and stretching room through the endless hallway, séance circle, ballroom, attic, graveyard and mirror crypt to unload.
- A stretching-room control selects either preshow mechanism: a rising ceiling or a descending elevator floor.
- The ballroom ghosts are an optical Pepper's ghost: brightly lit figures hidden in a pit are reflected by a tilted, partially reflective glass pane with adjustable reflectance (default 0.04, range 0.02–0.2).
- Removing the glass makes the ballroom ghosts disappear for both the viewport and the eye camera.
- A rider-occupancy control sets the share of other vehicles carrying fly riders (default 70%).
- Seven cameras, including first-person, behind the riders, a Pepper's ghost section view and a roof-off view of the whole ride.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only input: canonical eye images from the moving vehicle reach the fixed connectome model, and measured spikes drive the neural display.
- The eye camera looks through the same tilted glass, so the reflected figures reach the retina optically rather than as labels.
- Ride motion, boarding and all ghost-figure movement follow a pre-programmed timeline.

### Limitations

- An original procedural, all-fly model based on the ride structure; no audio, names, scripts, logos or downloaded assets from the original attraction are used.
- Route, room sizes and timing are approximations.

### Sources

- Haunted Mansion (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_Mansion

## Apollo Landing Site Terrain Survey

- Experiment: No. 0061
- Topic: Rides & exploration
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/apollo-site-lroc/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Scale: 10 m per scene unit
- Fly size: about 7 m (enlarged)
- Apollo 15 tile: 3,584 m square
- Apollo 15 DTM post spacing: 2 m

The fly, enlarged to about 7 m, traverses stereo-derived Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter terrain at Apollo landing sites, stopping at published positions of the lunar module, surface experiments and nearby craters.

### Setup

- Two configured sites: Apollo 11 Tranquility Base (six survey stops) and Apollo 15 Hadley–Apennine (five survey stops, including the Hadley Rille rim and floor).
- Terrain comes from LROC NAC stereo elevation models and aligned orthoimages; one scene unit equals 10 terrain metres, with no vertical exaggeration.
- Guided survey tour or manual traverse with W/A/S/D, turn and 10 m advance controls; speeds of 2, 5, 10, 25 or 50 m/s.
- Landing site, Follow fly, Surface eye, Survey and Topography cameras, with optional labels and schematic EVA path ribbons.
- A comparison control switches to the separate Apollo studio-set scene; that studio setting is modeled without a documented source.

### Measurement

- Optional live neural input submits the canonical eye image's 32 luminance columns to the fixed connectome model; weights are not updated.
- Navigation and gait are pre-programmed; measured spikes do not steer the survey.
- Packages save the site and traverse settings, not a learned skill.

### Limitations

- Hardware models are procedural approximations placed at positions from the LROC anthropogenic-object table (Wagner et al. 2017); the Apollo 11 TV camera and flag are reconstructed from ALSJ distances.
- Amber ribbons are schematic EVA paths, not digitized footprints.
- The orthoimage carries the illumination of the orbital image, not of the Apollo surface activities.
- The fly is enlarged for legibility; the Apollo 15 lunar module heading is approximate, not measured.

### Sources

- LROC NAC DTM, Apollo 15 (Arizona State University): https://wms.lroc.asu.edu/lroc/view_rdr/NAC_DTM_APOLLO15

## Project Pigeon Nose-Cone Guidance

- Experiment: No. 0064
- Topic: History & training
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/project-pigeon/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Stages: 9
- Duration: 112 s
- Release range: 4,000 m
- Measured window: 200 ms

In a counterfactual substitution, the fly takes the pigeon's place in the nose cone of a guided glide vehicle; in closed-loop mode its measured DNa02 right-minus-left firing rate turns the vehicle toward a projected target ship.

### Timeline

- 0:00 The training rig: Skinner’s pigeons, held in a cloth jacket, pecked at a target image on a translucent plate and were rewarded with grain. The fly watches an illustrative rig.
- 0:12 The three-bird nose cone: Skinner described a nose cone with three lenses and three screens, one bird behind each, steering by majority. A demonstration nose cone is held by the National Museum of American History.
- 0:24 Project ORCON: The Navy revived the idea in 1948 as ORCON, organic control. Pecks on an electrically conducting glass screen were read as distances from its centre lines; training images showed dives at a destroyer and a freighter.
- 0:34 The fly takes the pigeon’s place
- 0:44 Release over the sea: The carrier aircraft releases the inert test vehicle. The lens projects the target ship onto the screen in front of the fly.
- 0:52 Guided glide
- 1:22 Terminal approach
- 1:34 Splash marker: The inert vehicle enters the water. A dye marker and buoy mark the impact; the miss distance is measured from the ship’s centre line.
- 1:42 Trajectory and miss distance

### Setup

- Nine seekable stages over 112 seconds: Skinner's training rig, the three-bird nose cone, Project ORCON, boarding, release, guided glide, terminal approach, splash marker and trajectory report.
- Condensed approach geometry: 4,000 m release range and 900 m release height; the test vehicle is inert and the outcome is a splash marker.
- Controls: closed or open loop, gain (0–6 °/s/Hz, default 1.5), filter τ (0–2 s, default 0.4 s) and release aim error (±20°, default 8°).
- Seven cameras, including the projection screen over the fly's shoulder, a glide-vehicle chase, the incoming target ship and a range map.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only input; DNa02, LC10a and HS + H2 rates are reported as fixed measured readout groups.
- Closed loop: during guided glide and terminal approach only, each measured 200 ms window turns the vehicle by gain × filtered (DNa02 R − L), which changes the next retinal image.
- Open loop: a pre-programmed correction path is flown and measured output is only displayed. Elevation, speed and timing are pre-programmed in both modes.

### Limitations

- The fly substitution has no historical counterpart; the historical programs, Project Pigeon (1940–44) and the Navy's Project ORCON (1948–53), used trained pigeons.
- The steering coupling is an engineered mapping applied to a fixed-weight model; no learning occurs.
- Single-cell rates in a 200 ms window move in 5 Hz steps.

### Sources

- B. F. Skinner, Project Pigeon (DOI 10.1037/h0045345): https://doi.org/10.1037/h0045345

## Obedience Study Reconstruction (Milgram, 1963)

- Experiment: No. 0065
- Topic: History & training
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/milgram/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Stages: 11
- Duration: 182 s
- Conditions: 5
- Generator: 30 switches, up to 450 V

The fly serves as the teacher in a fly-based reconstruction of Stanley Milgram's 1961–62 Yale obedience experiments, reading word pairs and pressing switches on a simulated shock generator while an experimenter fly gives the four standardized prods.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Interaction Laboratory / arrival: The teacher fly and the learner — a trained confederate — arrive for a study of “memory and learning”. The experimenter wears a grey technician’s coat.
- 0:12 The rigged drawing: Both draw slips from a hat. Both slips read “Teacher”, so the confederate always takes the learner’s role.
- 0:22 Strapped into the chair: The learner is strapped into the chair; an electrode with paste is fixed to his wrist. The lead runs to the generator next door.
- 0:38 The 45-volt sample shock: The teacher is given a sample on the third switch (45 V). In 1963 it came from a battery wired into the generator.
- 0:48 Word pairs / the answer box: The teacher reads word pairs, then a cue word with four choices. The learner’s answer lights a quadrant atop the generator.
- 1:04 One level higher for each wrong answer: For every wrong answer the teacher announces the voltage and presses the next switch: Slight Shock to Strong Shock.
- 1:30 Very Strong to Intense Shock: Pilot lights accumulate across the panel. The voltage meter swings with every press; the blue energizer flashes.
- 1:50 300 volts: At 300 V the learner’s feedback reaches its published turning point; answers stop appearing on the four-way panel.
- 2:04 The four prods
- 2:22 Danger: Severe Shock / XXX: An obedient script continues to the last switches marked XXX. A defiant script leaves the panel; the session is terminated.
- 2:44 Reconciliation / no shock delivered: The learner unstraps and walks in unharmed. The generator was a simulation: no shock ever reached him.

### Setup

- Eleven seekable stages over 182 seconds, from arrival and the rigged drawing through the 45-volt sample, escalation, the 300-volt point, the four prods and the XXX switches to the debrief.
- Five selectable conditions as published: remote feedback, voice feedback, proximity, touch-proximity and the new basement baseline.
- A 30-switch generator up to 450 V carries the published verbal designations; the four prods follow Milgram (1963) verbatim.
- Six cameras, including the generator panel, a cutaway of both rooms, the learner's chair, the experimenter and a plan view.
- Captions showing prods, voltages and condition notes are viewport-only and never part of the retinal image.

### Measurement

- Retinal-only live input reaches the fixed connectome model; measured spikes drive the neural display.
- Whether the teacher fly continues or breaks off is pre-programmed and set by a user-selected stop voltage (15–450 V); it is not a decision computed by the connectome.

### Limitations

- As in the original, the generator is a simulation and the learner is a confederate: no shock ever reaches the learner.
- Published completion counts for each condition (n = 40 each) are shown as reference values; the teacher fly's pre-programmed behavior does not reproduce or test them.

### Sources

- Milgram (1963), obedience study (DOI 10.1037/h0040525): https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040525

## Flight Simulator

- Experiment: No. 0067
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/flight-simulator/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Duration: 106 s
- Phases: 5
- Default gain: 4 °/s/Hz
- Live window: 200 ms

The fly is tethered to a torque meter inside a cylindrical panorama of four T patterns. In closed loop, its measured DNa02 right-minus-left rate turns the panorama while heat is paired with one pattern type.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Tether and torque meter: The fly is glued to a hook on the torque meter at the centre of the cylindrical panorama. Four T patterns surround it: two upright, two inverted.
- 0:10 Pretest / no heat: The loop closes. In closed-loop mode the measured DNa02 asymmetry turns the panorama; the time spent facing each pattern type is recorded.
- 0:34 Training / heat on the punished pattern: The infrared beam is switched on whenever a punished pattern is in front of the fly. The neural weights stay fixed throughout.
- 1:10 Test / heat off: The heat is permanently off. Pattern fixation is recorded again from measured closed-loop windows.
- 1:34 Performance index: PI = (t unpunished − t punished)/(t unpunished + t punished) for each phase. With fixed weights this measures visuomotor bias, not learning.

### Setup

- Five phases: tether and torque meter (10 s), pretest without heat (24 s), training with heat on the punished pattern (36 s), test with heat off (24 s), performance index (12 s).
- Pattern pairs: upright / inverted T (the historical pair) or large / small T; the heated pattern type is selectable.
- Heat is a rendered infrared beam that switches on whenever a punished pattern is in front of the fly during training.
- Loop control: closed loop (measured) or open loop (pre-programmed schedule); gain 0–12 °/s/Hz, default 4; low-pass filter τ default 0.4 s.
- Cameras: Flight simulator / rig, Arena / looking in, Tethered fly, Fly POV / panorama, Readout screen.

### Measurement

- Canonical retinal input in 200 ms live windows; measured readouts are DNa02, HS + H2 and EPG.
- In closed loop each measured window turns the panorama by −gain × filtered (DNa02 R − L) × Δ; in open loop the panorama follows a pre-programmed experimenter schedule and measured output is only displayed.
- An optional, bounded direct VP2 warming drive (0.1–1.2) accompanies heat-on windows; it is off by default.
- Performance index per phase: PI = (t unpunished − t punished) / (t unpunished + t punished), from measured closed-loop windows.

### Limitations

- Neural weights are fixed, so no learning can occur; the performance index reports fixed-weight visuomotor bias.
- The 32-column retina has no elevation, so upright and inverted T produce identical column profiles.
- The DNa02 asymmetry stands in for yaw torque; the protocol is condensed from Heisenberg and Wolf's flight simulator.

### Sources

- Torque-meter flight simulator protocol (JoVE): https://doi.org/10.3791/731

## T-Maze Odor Conditioning

- Experiment: No. 0068
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/t-maze/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Duration: 367 s
- Shocks: 12 × 1.5 s, 60 V DC
- Expected learned PI: 0

The fly undergoes a condensed Tully & Quinn odor-shock protocol: one odor paired with twelve shocks, a second odor unpaired, then a choice between two arms selected by a documented rule applied to measured readouts.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Load the training tube: About a hundred flies are tapped into the training tube. Its inner wall is an electrifiable copper grid; a vacuum draws air through the tube. Acclimation is condensed from the usual ~90 s.
- 0:12 CS+ odor with 12 shocks: The shock-paired odor flows through the tube for 60 s. Twelve 1.5 s pulses of 60 V DC are delivered through the grid, one every 5 s.
- 1:12 Fresh air: Odor-free air flows for 45 s.
- 1:57 CS− odor without shock: The second odor flows through the tube for 60 s with no shock.
- 2:57 Fresh air: Odor-free air flows for another 45 s.
- 3:42 Elevator to the choice point: The flies are tapped down into the sliding elevator, which is lowered to the choice point between the two arms.
- 3:57 Choice point: sample both arms: Odor streams from the two arms converge at the choice point. In this engineered proxy the subject faces each arm in turn for 10 s; only the faced arm’s odor channel is driven.
- 4:57 Choice point: enter an arm: The subject enters the arm selected by the documented readout rule, or stays at the choice point when no preference was measured.
- 5:57 Trap and count: The elevator rises and traps the flies in each arm. PI = (avoid − approach) / total, from measured subject trials only.

### Setup

- Copper-grid training tube: 60 s CS+ odor with twelve 1.5 s, 60 V DC pulses (one every 5 s), 45 s fresh air, 60 s CS− odor, 45 s fresh air.
- Elevator transfer to the choice point, then a 2 min choice: the subject faces each arm in turn for 10 s, then enters an arm.
- Odors are 3-octanol (OCT) and 4-methylcyclohexanol (MCH); CS+ identity and the OCT arm side are selectable for reciprocal and side-balanced runs.
- A background cohort of about a hundred rendered flies is never counted.
- Cameras include apparatus overview, training tube / copper grid, choice point / both arms, subject eye view and the shock stimulator rig.

### Measurement

- Retina is always on. Optional direct drives, all off by default: OCT → DM1 ORNs, MCH → DM2 ORNs, shock → PPL101 dopaminergic cells and/or tactile bristle afferents.
- Choice rule: mean measured MBON01–05 (or DNa02) readout per odor over settled sampling windows; the subject avoids the arm whose odor evoked the higher mean.
- PI = (avoid − approach) / (avoid + approach), from measured subject trials only; ties are excluded.

### Limitations

- The engine has fixed weights and no plasticity, so the expected learned PI is zero; observed choices reflect fixed-weight odor responses and noise.
- Odors, shock and the choice are engineered proxies; DM1 and DM2 drives are not the receptor profiles of 3-octanol or 4-methylcyclohexanol.
- PPL101 stimulation is a transmitter label only: no dopamine chemistry or plasticity.

### Sources

- Tully & Quinn (1985): https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01350033

## Courtship Chamber

- Experiment: No. 0069
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/courtship-chamber/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Duration: 90 s
- Chamber: 10 mm
- Stages: 8

The fly is assigned the male role because the retained connectome is a male CNS. It executes a pre-programmed courtship ethogram toward a female in a 10 mm chamber while LC10a, pC1, pIP10 and DNa02 rates are measured.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Pair introduced: A naive male and a larger female are aspirated into the 10 mm chamber. The male explores the wall while the female walks.
- 0:08 Orientation: The male stops and turns to face the female, keeping her in his frontal visual field. LC10a is the visual pathway that guides this tracking.
- 0:18 Following: The female walks along the wall. The male follows about one body length behind, turning as she turns.
- 0:34 Tapping: The male closes in and taps the female’s abdomen with a foreleg; tarsal taste bristles sample her contact pheromones.
- 0:42 Wing extension and song: The male extends the wing nearer the female’s head and vibrates it, alternating pulse song (≈35 ms between pulses) with sine song (≈150 Hz). He circles behind her and switches wings.
- 1:06 Licking: Positioned behind the female, the male extends his proboscis toward the tip of her abdomen.
- 1:14 Attempted copulation: The male curls his abdomen forward beneath his body. The female does not accept: she walks away, and the score ends before copulation.
- 1:22 Resume orientation: The male turns toward the departing female and starts to follow again.

### Setup

- Eight stages over 90 s: pair introduced, orientation, following, tapping, wing extension and song, licking, attempted copulation, resumed orientation.
- The female does not accept and the timeline ends before copulation; body movement follows a pre-programmed, non-sexualized laboratory sequence.
- A programmed song display alternates pulse song (≈35 ms between pulses) and sine song (≈150 Hz) with an ethogram raster; it is viewport-only and never enters the retina.
- Cameras include chamber, overhead tracking view, pair close follow, male wing and forelegs, and male eye view.

### Measurement

- The retina sees the moving female; measured LC10a, male pC1 cluster (contains P1), pIP10 and DNa02 rates are shown separately from the timeline-derived courtship index.
- Optional direct LC10a drive (applied only while the female lies within ±45° of the male's heading) and auditory drive are bounded and off by default.
- The male's body movement follows the classic ethogram on a pre-programmed timeline; weights are fixed.

### Limitations

- The courtship index is computed from pre-programmed courting intervals, not from measured behavior.
- A 20 ms model step cannot carry the ~150–250 Hz song carrier; the auditory drive receives only the song envelope.
- Song bouts are a simplified synthetic pattern, not a recording.

### Sources

- Courtship reference (Science): https://doi.org/10.1126/science.8209251

## Looming Escape (Fly Swatter)

- Experiment: No. 0070
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/fly-swatter/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Duration: 52 s
- Swats: 4
- l/v sweep: 80 / 40 / 20 / 10 ms

The fly feeds on spilled sugar on a kitchen counter while four swats approach at constant velocity. In closed loop, a measured DNp01 giant-fiber spike before contact triggers a pre-programmed takeoff.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Sugar on the counter: The fly lands on a spill of sugar on the kitchen counter and starts to feed.
- 0:08 First swat: The swatter is raised and held, then swung straight at the fly at the first l/v.
- 0:17 Second swat: Another approach at the next l/v. In closed loop, takeoff happens only after a measured giant-fiber spike.
- 0:26 Third swat: A faster approach: the loom grows later and more abruptly.
- 0:35 Fourth swat: The fastest approach of the sweep.
- 0:44 Tally: Escapes and near misses by l/v, from measured giant-fiber windows only.

### Setup

- Six stages over 52 s: sugar on the counter, four swat trials of 9 s each, and a tally.
- l/v schedule: a sweep of 80, 40, 20 and 10 ms, or a fixed value from 10 to 120 ms.
- Swatter half-width 50 mm, approached at 60° elevation; without a qualifying spike it lands just in front of the fly as a near miss with a sugar puff.
- Cameras: Counter / feeding fly, Over the shoulder / incoming swatter, Macro / proboscis on sugar, Kitchen / whole swing, Fly POV / approach corridor, Tally card.

### Measurement

- Each 200 ms window carries ten 20 ms retinal frames, so the loom expands step by step; measured readouts are DNp01 and LC4 + LPLC2.
- Closed loop: a measured DNp01 spike in a window that ends before counter contact triggers the takeoff. Open loop presents the stimulus only.
- An optional, bounded antennal wind drive scaled by loom size is off by default.
- Escapes and near misses are tallied by l/v from measured giant-fiber windows only.

### Limitations

- The takeoff motion itself is pre-programmed; only its trigger comes from a measured spike.
- Neural weights are fixed; the stimuli follow Card & Dickinson (2008) and von Reyn et al. (2014, 2017) at fly scale.

### Sources

- Looming-escape reference (Nature Neuroscience): https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3741
- LC4 and LPLC2 synaptic gradients onto descending neurons (Dombrovski et al., Nature, 2023): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05562-8

## Ganzfeld Protocol

- Experiment: No. 0071
- Topic: Labs & senses
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ganzfeld/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Duration: 88 s
- Candidates per trial: 4
- Target pool: 8 pictures
- Chance hit rate: 25%

The fly, as receiver, sits under red light with fly-scaled halved ping-pong balls over its eyes while a sender fly views a seeded target picture in another room. A pick among four candidates is then recorded.

### Timeline

- 0:00 Fitting the diffusers: The experimenter fly fits two halved ping-pong balls over the receiver’s eyes and settles the headphones.
- 0:12 Red light and noise: The experimenter leaves. A lamp floods the half-balls; the receiver’s view becomes a featureless glow. Noise plays in the headphones (not reproduced).
- 0:24 Seeded target draw: In the sender room a seeded draw selects one picture from a set of four. Only the sender’s monitor shows it.
- 0:32 Sending period: The sender fly watches the target. The receiver sits in the uniform field; no image of the target reaches its retina.
- 1:02 Judging four candidates: The diffusers come off. The receiver views the four pictures in a separately shuffled order and a pick is made.
- 1:18 Reveal and tally: The target is revealed beside the pick. The running hit count is compared with the 25% chance expectation.

### Setup

- Six stages over 88 s: fitting the diffusers, red light and noise, seeded target draw, 30 s sending period, judging four candidates, reveal and tally.
- A seeded draw selects four pictures from a pool of eight and one target; presentation order is shuffled separately.
- Trial / seed control from 1 to 500; field light red (classic), white or amber.
- Participants: the receiver, an experimenter fly and a sender fly; headphone noise is described, not reproduced.

### Measurement

- The receiver's canonical retina sits inside the half-balls and receives a near-uniform field; the target appears only on the sender's monitor and never reaches the receiver's retina.
- During live playback the pick is the total measured spikes in four readout groups (LC10a, LC4 + LPLC2, HS + H2, DNa02) during judging, modulo 4; otherwise it is the seeded, pre-programmed pick.
- The running hit count is compared with the 25% chance expectation using a Wilson interval and a binomial chance range.

### Limitations

- The expected hit rate is 25% by construction.
- The measured pick is arbitrary with respect to the target.
- The model receives luminance only; field light colour is not delivered as colour.

### Sources

- Bem & Honorton (1994), Psychological Bulletin: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.115.1.4

## Dreamachine

- Experiment: No. 0072
- Topic: Altered states
- Page: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/dreamachine/
- Added: 2026-10-16
- Duration: 114 s
- Flicker frequency: openings × rpm ÷ 60
- Historical target: about 8–13 Hz
- Aliasing above: 25 Hz

The fly sits facing a slotted cylinder that turns on a record turntable around a bare bulb in a modeled 1960s Paris hotel room. The slot flicker reaches its retina as frames rendered 20 ms apart.

### Timeline

- 0:00 A Paris hotel room, 1960s: The fly crosses a dim attic room: hex-tiled floor, iron bed, typewriter, calligraphy on the walls. A slotted cylinder stands on a record player.
- 0:12 Seated facing the cylinder: The fly settles on a cushion with its head level with the bulb, a short distance from the slots.
- 0:22 The bulb is switched on: An attendant fly switches on the bulb. The interior calligraphy glows through the stationary slots.
- 0:30 The turntable spins up: The attendant starts the turntable. The cylinder accelerates and the slot flicker rises to the selected frequency.
- 0:40 Steady flicker: The cylinder turns at the selected speed. Light sweeps the walls; every retinal column sees the slots pass.
- 1:20 Comparing speeds: The attendant steps the turntable through 33⅓, 45 and 78 rpm, then returns to the selected speed.
- 1:44 Spin-down and darkness: The turntable slows to a stop and the bulb is switched off.

### Setup

- Seven stages over 114 s: arrival, seating, lamp on, spin-up, 40 s steady flicker, speed comparison, spin-down.
- Turntable 78, 45 or 33⅓ rpm, or stopped as a control; slot patterns of 6, 8, 12 or 24 openings per turn; lamp bright, dim or off as a control.
- An attendant fly operates the bulb and turntable; the speed-comparison step runs through 33⅓, 45 and 78 rpm.
- Cameras: Hotel room / overview, Fly and cylinder / profile, Slots, bulb and calligraphy, Facing the fly, Overhead, Over the shoulder.

### Measurement

- Each live window sends ten 32-column retinal frames rendered 20 ms apart, so flicker below 25 Hz reaches the model; faster flicker aliases.
- Measured readouts: LC4 + LPLC2, DNp01, HS + H2 and VS. Input is retinal only; weights are fixed.

### Limitations

- Real fly photoreceptors follow far faster flicker than the 20 ms model step.
- Gysin's machine is viewed with closed eyes; flies have no eyelids.
- No visions or alpha entrainment are claimed or measured; the room is modeled on the Beat Hotel, not a survey of it.

### Sources

- Dreamachine (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamachine

## Neurons

## R1–R6 photoreceptors

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/r1-r6-photoreceptors/
- Also known as: Outer photoreceptors; R1-6
- Region: Compound eye (retina); axons end in the lamina
- System: Vision: eye and optic lobe
- 3D view: 16 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (R1-6 16)

R1–R6 are the six outer photoreceptor cells in each ommatidium, or unit eye, of the fruit fly’s compound eye. They all belong to one spectral class and are the main input to the fly’s motion vision.

### What they are

Each ommatidium contains eight photoreceptors, R1 to R8 (Meinertzhagen and O'Neil, 1991). R1–R6 are arranged around the outside of the ommatidium and R7 and R8 in its centre. Whereas R7 and R8 come in several spectral classes, R1–R6 all belong to a single one (Wardill et al., 2012).

Light is absorbed by rhodopsin in the rhabdomere, a stack of membrane folds, and converted into an electrical signal by a cascade that is the fastest G-protein signalling pathway known (Hardie and Raghu, 2001). Like other fly photoreceptors, R1–R6 respond with graded changes in membrane voltage rather than spikes.

### Where they sit

Their cell bodies lie in the retina and their axons end in the lamina, the first neuropil of the optic lobe. There R1–R6 terminals provide the photoreceptor input to the lamina’s repeating modules, the cartridges, and synapse onto the lamina monopolar cells (Meinertzhagen and O'Neil, 1991). R1–R6 cells in six neighbouring ommatidia that look at the same point in space send their axons to the same cartridge, an arrangement called neural superposition.

### What they do

Genetic dissection of the lamina places R1–R6 at the start of the achromatic motion channel: their signal passes mainly through lamina neurons L1 and L2, which together are necessary and largely sufficient for motion-dependent behavior (Rister et al., 2007). Downstream, the pathway splits into ON and OFF channels that end in the T4 and T5 motion detectors (Joesch et al., 2010; Maisak et al., 2013).

R1–R6 are not the only route: R7 and R8 also feed the motion pathway, which broadens its spectral tuning and improves motion discrimination (Wardill et al., 2012).

### Behavior

Turning responses to moving patterns depend on motion signals that begin in R1–R6 and pass through L1 and L2 (Rister et al., 2007; Maisak et al., 2013).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

In the workstation, each scene is rendered from the fly’s head and averaged into 32 luminance columns, which drive the model’s R1–R6, R7 and R8 cells by estimated azimuth. The input has no color or vertical structure and is not a model of compound-eye optics. See retinal input.

- Media Observation: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/movie/

### Sources

- Meinertzhagen and O'Neil, 1991: Synaptic organization of columnar elements in the lamina of the wild type in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Comparative Neurology 305:232–263. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.903050206
- Hardie and Raghu, 2001: Visual transduction in Drosophila. Nature 413:186–193. https://doi.org/10.1038/35093002
- Rister et al., 2007: Dissection of the Peripheral Motion Channel in the Visual System of Drosophila melanogaster. Neuron 56:155–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2007.09.014
- Joesch et al., 2010: ON and OFF pathways in Drosophila motion vision. Nature 468:300–304. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09545
- Maisak et al., 2013: A directional tuning map of Drosophila elementary motion detectors. Nature 500:212–216. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12320
- Wardill et al., 2012: Multiple Spectral Inputs Improve Motion Discrimination in the Drosophila Visual System. Science 336:925–931. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1215317

## R7 and R8 photoreceptors

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/r7-r8-photoreceptors/
- Also known as: Inner photoreceptors; R7; R8; Long visual fibres
- Region: Compound eye (retina); axons end in the medulla
- System: Vision: eye and optic lobe
- 3D view: 16 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (R7 7, R8 9)

R7 and R8 are the two inner photoreceptors of each ommatidium in the fruit fly’s compound eye. They come in several spectral classes and are the basis of color vision; in the dorsal rim of the eye they detect polarized light.

### What they are

R7 and R8 sit in the centre of the ommatidium, R7 above R8. In most ommatidia the two cells express different opsins, so each pair compares two parts of the spectrum: short-wavelength ultraviolet against blue in “pale” ommatidia, and long-wavelength ultraviolet against green in “yellow” ommatidia (Schnaitmann et al., 2018).

### Where they sit

Their axons, the long visual fibres, pass through the lamina and end in the medulla (Meinertzhagen and O'Neil, 1991), where R7 and R8 terminate in different layers.

### What they do

Color-opponent processing begins in the photoreceptor terminals themselves: R7 and R8 of the same ommatidium inhibit each other directly through histamine receptors (Schnaitmann et al., 2018).

Downstream, the medulla neurons Tm5 and Tm9 receive direct input from R7 and R8 respectively, and wide-field Dm8 neurons pool input from 13 to 16 ultraviolet-sensing R7 cells. Dm8 neurons are necessary and sufficient for flies to prefer ultraviolet over green light (Gao et al., 2008).

R7 and R8 also contribute to motion vision alongside R1–R6 (Wardill et al., 2012).

### Polarized light

In the dorsal rim area of the eye, R7 and R8 have enlarged rhabdomeres and express the same opsin instead of different ones. This makes them detectors of the polarization of skylight, which flies use for orientation (Wernet et al., 2003).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

The workstation’s 32-column input drives R7 and R8 together with R1–R6 by estimated azimuth. It is a luminance signal with no color channels, so the spectral comparisons these cells make in a living fly are not represented.

- Media Observation: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/movie/

### Sources

- Schnaitmann et al., 2018: Color Processing in the Early Visual System of Drosophila. Cell 172:318–330.e18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2017.12.018
- Gao et al., 2008: The Neural Substrate of Spectral Preference in Drosophila. Neuron 60:328–342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2008.08.010
- Wernet et al., 2003: Homothorax Switches Function of Drosophila Photoreceptors from Color to Polarized Light Sensors. Cell 115:267–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0092-8674(03)00848-1
- Wardill et al., 2012: Multiple Spectral Inputs Improve Motion Discrimination in the Drosophila Visual System. Science 336:925–931. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1215317
- Meinertzhagen and O'Neil, 1991: Synaptic organization of columnar elements in the lamina of the wild type in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Comparative Neurology 305:232–263. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.903050206

## Lamina monopolar cells L1–L5

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/lamina-monopolar-cells/
- Also known as: L1; L2; L3; L4; L5; Lamina neurons
- Region: Lamina (optic lobe); axons end in the medulla
- System: Vision: eye and optic lobe
- 3D view: 82 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (L1 24, L2 25, L3 22, L4 5, L5 6)

Lamina monopolar cells L1 to L5 are the output neurons of the lamina, the first neuropil of the fruit fly’s optic lobe. They relay photoreceptor signals to the medulla, where L1 and L2 begin the ON and OFF pathways for motion vision.

### What they are

The lamina is built from repeating modules called cartridges, one for each point in the visual field. A complete electron-microscopy reconstruction of a cartridge identified 12 neuron types: the R1–R6 photoreceptor terminals, the R7 and R8 fibres, the five monopolar cells L1–L5, the medulla neurons C2, C3 and T1, and a wide-field amacrine cell (Meinertzhagen and O'Neil, 1991).

### Where they sit

L1–L5 have their branches in the lamina and send their axons to the medulla. At the lamina, the R1–R6 signal splits into four parallel pathways: L1, L2, L3 and the amacrine cell–T1 pathway (Rister et al., 2007).

### What they do

Blocking L1 eliminates the responses of motion-sensitive neurons to moving bright edges, and blocking L2 eliminates responses to moving dark edges. Photoreceptor signals therefore segregate into an ON channel beginning with L1 and an OFF channel beginning with L2, much like ON and OFF bipolar cells in the vertebrate retina (Joesch et al., 2010).

L3 was first linked to orientation behavior rather than motion (Rister et al., 2007) and was later shown to act together with L1 and L2 as an input to motion-detecting circuits (Silies et al., 2013). A screen of all 12 lamina neuron classes found that L2 and L4, together with the feedback neurons C2 and C3, are required for normal detection of directional motion, and that nearly all lamina classes contribute (Tuthill et al., 2013).

### Behavior

At high pattern contrast, the L1 and L2 pathways are redundant for motion-guided behavior; at intermediate contrast, L2 mediates front-to-back and L1 back-to-front motion (Rister et al., 2007).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

In a living fly, photoreceptors and lamina neurons signal with graded potentials rather than spikes. The workstation’s model represents them, like every other cell, as leaky integrate-and-fire units.

- No experiment notes name these cells yet.

### Sources

- Meinertzhagen and O'Neil, 1991: Synaptic organization of columnar elements in the lamina of the wild type in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Comparative Neurology 305:232–263. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.903050206
- Joesch et al., 2010: ON and OFF pathways in Drosophila motion vision. Nature 468:300–304. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09545
- Rister et al., 2007: Dissection of the Peripheral Motion Channel in the Visual System of Drosophila melanogaster. Neuron 56:155–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2007.09.014
- Silies et al., 2013: Modular Use of Peripheral Input Channels Tunes Motion-Detecting Circuitry. Neuron 79:111–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2013.04.029
- Tuthill et al., 2013: Contributions of the 12 Neuron Classes in the Fly Lamina to Motion Vision. Neuron 79:128–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2013.05.024

## Mi and Tm medulla neurons

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/mi-tm-medulla-neurons/
- Also known as: Mi1; Mi4; Mi9; Tm1; Tm2; Tm3; Tm4; Tm9; Medulla intrinsic neurons; Transmedullary neurons
- Region: Medulla (optic lobe); Tm axons reach the lobula
- System: Vision: eye and optic lobe
- 3D view: 49 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (Mi1 24, Mi4 2, Mi9 4, Tm1 6, Tm2 7, Tm3 2, Tm4 3, Tm9 1)

Mi (medulla intrinsic) and Tm (transmedullary) neurons are columnar neurons of the fruit fly’s medulla. Mi1, Tm3, Mi4 and Mi9 are the major inputs to the T4 motion detectors, and Tm1, Tm2, Tm4 and Tm9 the major inputs to T5.

### What they are

The names come from the classic Golgi survey of the optic lobe (Fischbach and Dittrich, 1989): Mi neurons stay within the medulla, while Tm neurons send an axon from the medulla to the lobula. Both are columnar, repeating across the medulla’s retinotopic columns.

### What they do

An electron-microscopy reconstruction of the medulla identified a motion detection circuit and found that the connections onto individual motion-sensitive neurons were consistent with their direction selectivity (Takemura et al., 2013).

Patch-clamp recordings showed that Mi1 and Tm3 respond to brightness increments, with Mi1 delayed relative to Tm3, and that Tm1 and Tm2 respond to brightness decrements, with Tm1 delayed relative to Tm2. These are the delayed and non-delayed signals that the classic correlator model of motion detection requires (Behnia et al., 2014).

None of the main inputs to T4 is itself direction-selective; selectivity arises in the T4 dendrites (Strother et al., 2017). On the OFF side, T5 receives its major input from Tm1, Tm2, Tm4 and Tm9, which act as an array of spatiotemporal filters; silencing them in various combinations shows that all four contribute to OFF motion detection to different degrees (Serbe et al., 2016). Connectome comparisons of the two pathways are given in (Shinomiya et al., 2019).

### Behavior

Silencing each T4 input type identified which ones are necessary for T4 direction selectivity and for behavioral responses to ON motion (Strother et al., 2017).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

- No experiment notes name these cells yet.

### Sources

- Fischbach and Dittrich, 1989: The optic lobe of Drosophila melanogaster. I. A Golgi analysis of wild-type structure. Cell and Tissue Research 258. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00218858
- Takemura et al., 2013: A visual motion detection circuit suggested by Drosophila connectomics. Nature 500:175–181. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12450
- Behnia et al., 2014: Processing properties of ON and OFF pathways for Drosophila motion detection. Nature 512:427–430. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13427
- Strother et al., 2017: The Emergence of Directional Selectivity in the Visual Motion Pathway of Drosophila. Neuron 94:168–182.e10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.03.010
- Serbe et al., 2016: Comprehensive Characterization of the Major Presynaptic Elements to the Drosophila OFF Motion Detector. Neuron 89:829–841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2016.01.006
- Shinomiya et al., 2019: Comparisons between the ON- and OFF-edge motion pathways in the Drosophila brain. eLife 8:e40025. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.40025

## T4 and T5 motion detectors

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/t4-t5/
- Also known as: T4a; T4b; T4c; T4d; T5a; T5b; T5c; T5d; Elementary motion detectors
- Region: Medulla (T4) and lobula (T5); axons end in the lobula plate
- System: Vision: eye and optic lobe
- 3D view: 60 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (T4a 20, T4b 1, T4c 2, T4d 3, T5a 24, T5b 1, T5c 3, T5d 6)

T4 and T5 are the first direction-selective neurons in the fruit fly’s visual system. T4 cells respond to moving bright (ON) edges and T5 cells to moving dark (OFF) edges, and each of their four subtypes prefers one of the four cardinal directions.

### What they are

Calcium imaging showed that subpopulations of T4 and T5 cells are each tuned to one of four directions: front-to-back, back-to-front, upward or downward. Depending on its preferred direction, each subtype terminates in its own layer of the lobula plate (Maisak et al., 2013). The subtypes are named a to d.

### Where they sit

T4 dendrites lie in the medulla and T5 dendrites in the lobula; both send their axons to the four layers of the lobula plate (Maisak et al., 2013; Shinomiya et al., 2019).

### What they do

Blocking T4 output selectively impairs the responses of downstream lobula plate neurons to moving ON edges, and blocking T5 impairs responses to OFF edges (Maisak et al., 2013). Direction selectivity is computed within the T4 dendrites from inputs that are not themselves direction-selective (Strother et al., 2017), and the connections onto these cells are consistent with their preferred directions (Takemura et al., 2013).

Their outputs feed large, wide-field motion-sensitive neurons of the lobula plate (Maisak et al., 2013) and lobula plate projection neurons such as LPLC2, whose cross-shaped dendrites collect outward motion from all four T4/T5 layers to detect looming (Klapoetke et al., 2017).

### Behavior

Blocking T4 or T5 selectively compromises the turning responses of tethered walking flies to moving ON or OFF edges (Maisak et al., 2013).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

- No experiment notes name these cells yet.

### Sources

- Maisak et al., 2013: A directional tuning map of Drosophila elementary motion detectors. Nature 500:212–216. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12320
- Takemura et al., 2013: A visual motion detection circuit suggested by Drosophila connectomics. Nature 500:175–181. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12450
- Strother et al., 2017: The Emergence of Directional Selectivity in the Visual Motion Pathway of Drosophila. Neuron 94:168–182.e10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.03.010
- Shinomiya et al., 2019: Comparisons between the ON- and OFF-edge motion pathways in the Drosophila brain. eLife 8:e40025. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.40025
- Klapoetke et al., 2017: Ultra-selective looming detection from radial motion opponency. Nature 551:237–241. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24626

## Lobula columnar (LC) and LPLC neurons

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/lobula-columnar-neurons/
- Also known as: LC neurons; LPLC neurons; Visual projection neurons; VPNs
- Region: Lobula and lobula plate; axons end in optic glomeruli of the central brain
- System: Vision: eye and optic lobe
- 3D view: 107 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (LC4 25, LC6 1, LC9 1, LC10a 29, LC10b 1, LC10c 1, LC12 2, LC13 1, LC15 2, LC17 4, LC18 1, LC26 1, LC28a 1, LC29 1, LC33 1, LPLC1 1, LPLC2 32, LPLC4 2)

Lobula columnar (LC) and lobula plate–lobula columnar (LPLC) neurons are visual projection neurons of the fruit fly: they carry features extracted in the optic lobe to the central brain. The axons of each type converge in their own optic glomerulus.

### What they are

A systematic survey of visual projection neurons found that the terminals of each columnar lobula pathway form a glomerulus-like structure in a different area of the ventrolateral protocerebrum (Otsuna and Ito, 2006). A later study described 22 LC types anatomically (Wu et al., 2016). Most target optic glomeruli in the posterior ventrolateral and posterior lateral protocerebrum (PVLP and PLP), while LC10 terminals lie in the anterior optic tubercle (Wu et al., 2016). A connectome of one optic lobe of a male fly classifies its roughly 53,000 neurons into 732 types, which include the LC and LPLC types (Nern et al., 2025).

LPLC types also have dendrites in the lobula plate, where T4 and T5 cells sort motion by direction (Klapoetke et al., 2017).

### What they do

Optogenetic activation of several LC types in freely moving flies evokes specific behaviors. Two types evoke avoidance resembling the response to a looming object and respond to looming stimuli in calcium imaging, whereas another responds instead to the motion of a small object. Activating LC neurons on one side of the brain can cause turning toward or away from that side, depending on the type (Wu et al., 2016).

Instead of keeping a map of visual space in their axons, these neurons convey where a feature is through graded numbers of synapses onto downstream neurons. This synaptic gradient motif was found across all 20 primary visual projection neuron types examined (Dombrovski et al., 2023).

### Examples

Well-studied types include LC4 and LPLC2, which detect looming and connect to the giant fiber escape neuron, and LC10a, which male flies need to follow a female during courtship.

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

- Media Observation: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/movie/
- Retinal Bench: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/vision-lab/
- Torture Chamber: Six Documented Devices: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/torture-chamber/
- The Ludovico Technique: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ludovico/
- The Star Gate: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/stargate-corridor/
- Project Pigeon Nose-Cone Guidance: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/project-pigeon/
- Courtship Chamber: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/courtship-chamber/
- Looming Escape (Fly Swatter): https://theflybrain.com/experiments/fly-swatter/
- Ganzfeld Protocol: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ganzfeld/
- Dreamachine: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/dreamachine/

### Sources

- Otsuna and Ito, 2006: Systematic analysis of the visual projection neurons of Drosophila melanogaster. I. Lobula-specific pathways. Journal of Comparative Neurology 497:928–958. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.21015
- Wu et al., 2016: Visual projection neurons in the Drosophila lobula link feature detection to distinct behavioral programs. eLife 5:e21022. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21022
- Klapoetke et al., 2017: Ultra-selective looming detection from radial motion opponency. Nature 551:237–241. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24626
- Dombrovski et al., 2023: Synaptic gradients transform object location to action. Nature 613:534–542. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05562-8
- Nern et al., 2025: Connectome-driven neural inventory of a complete visual system. Nature 641:1225–1237. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08746-0

## LC4

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/lc4/
- Also known as: Lobula columnar type 4; ColA (in larger flies)
- Region: Lobula; axons end in the LC4 optic glomerulus, where they meet the giant fiber
- System: Vision: eye and optic lobe
- 3D view: 25 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (LC4 25)

LC4 is a lobula columnar visual projection neuron type of the fruit fly that responds to looming, the rapid expansion of an approaching object’s image. LC4 neurons synapse directly onto the giant fiber escape neuron and convey how fast the object expands.

### Where they sit

LC4 dendrites lie in the lobula and their axons converge in the LC4 optic glomerulus, which is innervated by the giant fiber, designated DNp01 (Namiki et al., 2018).

### What they do

Removing this input to the giant fiber during looming stimuli showed that it encodes the angular expansion velocity of the approaching object, while other inputs encode its angular size; the giant fiber integrates the two features linearly (von Reyn et al., 2017). The size component comes from LPLC2, and electron microscopy shows that both LC4 and LPLC2 synapse directly onto the giant fiber (Ache et al., 2019).

LC4 neurons viewing different parts of the visual field make opposite, graded numbers of synapses onto two descending neurons, DNp02 and DNp11, along the front-to-back axis of visual space. Activating DNp11 makes flies lean forward and DNp02 promotes backward takeoffs, so the location of a threat is converted into the direction of escape (Dombrovski et al., 2023).

### Behavior

Optogenetic activation of LC4 drives jumping (Wu et al., 2016). Fast looms bias the fly toward rapid, giant-fiber-mediated escapes (von Reyn et al., 2017).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

Several experiments measure LC4 together with LPLC2 as a looming readout, and some can drive LC4 and LPLC2 directly through an engineered encoder; direct drive bypasses retinal detection.

- Media Observation: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/movie/
- Retinal Bench: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/vision-lab/
- Torture Chamber: Six Documented Devices: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/torture-chamber/
- The Ludovico Technique: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ludovico/
- The Star Gate: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/stargate-corridor/
- Looming Escape (Fly Swatter): https://theflybrain.com/experiments/fly-swatter/
- Ganzfeld Protocol: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ganzfeld/
- Dreamachine: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/dreamachine/

### Sources

- Namiki et al., 2018: The functional organization of descending sensory-motor pathways in Drosophila. eLife 7:e34272. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.34272
- von Reyn et al., 2017: Feature Integration Drives Probabilistic Behavior in the Drosophila Escape Response. Neuron 94:1190–1204.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.05.036
- Ache et al., 2019: Neural Basis for Looming Size and Velocity Encoding in the Drosophila Giant Fiber Escape Pathway. Current Biology 29:1073–1081.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.01.079
- Dombrovski et al., 2023: Synaptic gradients transform object location to action. Nature 613:534–542. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05562-8
- Wu et al., 2016: Visual projection neurons in the Drosophila lobula link feature detection to distinct behavioral programs. eLife 5:e21022. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21022

## LC10a

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/lc10a/
- Also known as: LC10 neurons; Lobula columnar type 10a
- Region: Lobula; axons end in the anterior optic tubercle
- System: Vision: eye and optic lobe
- 3D view: 29 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (LC10a 29)

LC10a is a lobula columnar visual projection neuron type of the fruit fly. LC10 neurons respond preferentially to small moving objects, and male flies need them to orient toward and follow a female during courtship.

### Where they sit

LC10 dendrites lie in the lobula and their terminals in the anterior optic tubercle (Wu et al., 2016).

### What they do

LC10 neurons preferentially respond to small moving objects, using an antagonistic, motion-based centre-surround mechanism (Ribeiro et al., 2018).

Males with LC10 neurons silenced are unable to orient toward or stay close to a female and do not predominantly use the wing nearest her when singing. Activating LC10 on one side reproduces the orienting and ipsilateral wing extension that a female normally elicits (Ribeiro et al., 2018).

### Courtship state

The potency with which LC10 activation induces wing extension is enhanced in a state of courtship arousal controlled by the male-specific P1 neurons (Ribeiro et al., 2018). Recordings from courting males show that the gain of LC10a neurons increases during courtship, making them more sensitive to moving targets, and a network model indicates that LC10a signals amplified by P1-mediated arousal almost fully specify a male’s tracking of a female (Hindmarsh Sten et al., 2021).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

LC10a is the moving-target readout in several experiments. In the Courtship Chamber its rate is recorded alongside the pC1 cluster, pIP10 and DNa02, and an optional direct LC10a drive is off by default.

- Media Observation: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/movie/
- Retinal Bench: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/vision-lab/
- The Ludovico Technique: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ludovico/
- Project Pigeon Nose-Cone Guidance: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/project-pigeon/
- Courtship Chamber: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/courtship-chamber/
- Ganzfeld Protocol: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ganzfeld/

### Sources

- Ribeiro et al., 2018: Visual Projection Neurons Mediating Directed Courtship in Drosophila. Cell 174:607–621.e18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.06.020
- Hindmarsh Sten et al., 2021: Sexual arousal gates visual processing during Drosophila courtship. Nature 595:549–553. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03714-w
- Wu et al., 2016: Visual projection neurons in the Drosophila lobula link feature detection to distinct behavioral programs. eLife 5:e21022. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21022

## LPLC2

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/lplc2/
- Also known as: Lobula plate/lobula columnar, type 2; Lobula plate–lobula columnar type II
- Region: Lobula plate and lobula; axons end in an optic glomerulus, onto the giant fiber
- System: Vision: eye and optic lobe
- 3D view: 32 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (LPLC2 32)

LPLC2 (lobula plate/lobula columnar, type 2) is a visual projection neuron type of the fruit fly that responds selectively to looming objects, such as an approaching predator. LPLC2 neurons provide the size signal that the giant fiber uses to trigger escape.

### What they are

Each LPLC2 neuron has a cross-shaped dendrite whose four arms ramify in the four layers of the lobula plate, where T4 and T5 cells sort motion by direction. Each arm extends along its layer’s preferred direction, so the neuron is excited by motion spreading outward from the centre of its receptive field (Klapoetke et al., 2017).

### What they do

Each dendritic arm also receives local inhibition tuned to inward motion. This radial motion opponency makes LPLC2 unresponsive to related patterns such as contraction, wide-field rotation or a change in overall brightness (Klapoetke et al., 2017).

As a population, LPLC2 neurons densely cover visual space and terminate onto the giant fiber descending neurons, which drive the jump muscle motor neuron to trigger an escape takeoff (Klapoetke et al., 2017). LPLC2 provides the entire angular-size component of the giant fiber’s looming response, and LPLC2 neurons are necessary for giant-fiber-mediated escape (Ache et al., 2019). Their synapses onto downstream neurons also vary in number with position in visual space, along both the front-to-back and up-down axes (Dombrovski et al., 2023).

### Behavior

Optogenetic activation of LPLC2 drives jumping (Wu et al., 2016).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

Several experiments measure LPLC2 together with LC4 as a looming readout, and some can drive both directly through an engineered encoder; direct drive bypasses retinal detection.

- Media Observation: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/movie/
- Retinal Bench: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/vision-lab/
- Torture Chamber: Six Documented Devices: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/torture-chamber/
- The Ludovico Technique: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ludovico/
- The Star Gate: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/stargate-corridor/
- Looming Escape (Fly Swatter): https://theflybrain.com/experiments/fly-swatter/
- Ganzfeld Protocol: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ganzfeld/
- Dreamachine: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/dreamachine/

### Sources

- Klapoetke et al., 2017: Ultra-selective looming detection from radial motion opponency. Nature 551:237–241. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24626
- Ache et al., 2019: Neural Basis for Looming Size and Velocity Encoding in the Drosophila Giant Fiber Escape Pathway. Current Biology 29:1073–1081.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.01.079
- Dombrovski et al., 2023: Synaptic gradients transform object location to action. Nature 613:534–542. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05562-8
- Wu et al., 2016: Visual projection neurons in the Drosophila lobula link feature detection to distinct behavioral programs. eLife 5:e21022. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21022

## Kenyon cells

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/kenyon-cells/
- Also known as: KCs; Mushroom body intrinsic neurons; γ, α′β′ and αβ neurons
- Region: Mushroom body: calyx, peduncle and lobes
- System: Learning and memory
- 3D view: 10 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (KCab 3, KCapbp-ap2 1, KCg-d 1, KCg-m 5)

Kenyon cells are the intrinsic neurons of the mushroom body, the fruit fly’s center for associative learning and memory. Each mushroom body contains about 2,000 of them, and their parallel axons form its lobes.

### What they are

Each mushroom body is built from the parallel axons of about 2,000 Kenyon cells (Aso et al., 2014). There are three main classes, named for the lobes their axons enter: γ, α′β′ and αβ. Each mushroom body neuroblast generates them in sequence, γ neurons first and αβ neurons last (Lee et al., 1999).

### Where they sit

Kenyon cell dendrites form the calyx, where they receive input from olfactory projection neurons of the antennal lobe; their axons run through the peduncle into the lobes (Turner et al., 2008; Aso et al., 2014). Not all Kenyon cells are olfactory: a small subset responds to visual but not olfactory stimulation and has its dendrites in a separate ventral accessory calyx (Vogt et al., 2016), and the mushroom body connectome revealed extensive visual input (Li et al., 2020).

### What they do

Kenyon cells respond to odors sparsely. Each cell receives input from only about 10 projection neurons on average and has a high firing threshold, so it responds to few odors, and the representations of different odors become less correlated than in earlier stages of the olfactory system (Turner et al., 2008).

Twenty-one types of mushroom body output neurons (MBONs) divide the lobes into 15 compartments, and each of 20 types of dopaminergic neurons projects to one or at most two of them. Dopaminergic input converging on the compartmentalized Kenyon cell to MBON synapses provides a substrate for learning to assign value to sensory representations (Aso et al., 2014).

### Behavior

Behavioral, molecular and genetic studies identified the mushroom body as essential for forming and retrieving olfactory memories (Turner et al., 2008; Heisenberg, 2003).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

The workstation’s model has fixed weights, so the dopamine-dependent synaptic changes that underlie learning in the mushroom body are not simulated.

- No experiment notes name these cells yet.

### Sources

- Aso et al., 2014: The neuronal architecture of the mushroom body provides a logic for associative learning. eLife 3:e04577. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.04577
- Lee et al., 1999: Development of the Drosophila mushroom bodies: sequential generation of three distinct types of neurons from a neuroblast. Development 126:4065–4076. https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.126.18.4065
- Turner et al., 2008: Olfactory Representations by Drosophila Mushroom Body Neurons. Journal of Neurophysiology 99:734–746. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.01283.2007
- Vogt et al., 2016: Direct neural pathways convey distinct visual information to Drosophila mushroom bodies. eLife 5:e14009. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14009
- Li et al., 2020: The connectome of the adult Drosophila mushroom body provides insights into function. eLife 9:e62576. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.62576
- Heisenberg, 2003: Mushroom body memoir: from maps to models. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 4:266–275. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1074

## PAM dopaminergic neurons

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/pam-dopaminergic-neurons/
- Also known as: PAM cluster; Protocerebral anterior medial dopaminergic neurons
- Region: Protocerebral anterior medial cluster; output to the medial lobes of the mushroom body
- System: Learning and memory
- 3D view: 1 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (PAM05 1)

PAM neurons are dopaminergic neurons of the protocerebral anterior medial (PAM) cluster of the fruit fly brain. A group of them signals sugar reward to the medial lobes of the mushroom body, where appetitive odor memories form.

### What they are

A group of PAM dopaminergic neurons signals sugar reward. They are activated by sugar ingestion, more strongly when the fly is starved, and are required for the reinforcing property of sugar but not for reflexive responses to it (Liu et al., 2012).

### Where they sit

Their output sites lie mainly in the medial lobes of the mushroom body (Liu et al., 2012). Each dopaminergic neuron type projects to one, or at most two, of the 15 mushroom body compartments (Aso et al., 2014).

### What they do

Dopamine in insects had long been associated with aversive reinforcement; the PAM findings showed that a distinct subset of dopaminergic neurons signals reward (Liu et al., 2012).

Octopamine reinforces only short-term appetitive memory and does so through dopaminergic neurons. Directly activating an identified subset of mushroom-body-targeted dopaminergic neurons can substitute for sugar to form appetitive memory, even in flies lacking octopamine (Burke et al., 2012).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

The Navigation and Memory Bench pulses a PAM01 dopaminergic population as its reward channel and measures recovery after each pulse. The model’s weights are fixed, so these pulses do not form memories.

- Navigation and Memory Bench: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/navigation-lab/

### Sources

- Liu et al., 2012: A subset of dopamine neurons signals reward for odour memory in Drosophila. Nature 488:512–516. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11304
- Burke et al., 2012: Layered reward signalling through octopamine and dopamine in Drosophila. Nature 492:433–437. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11614
- Aso et al., 2014: The neuronal architecture of the mushroom body provides a logic for associative learning. eLife 3:e04577. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.04577

## PFN neurons

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/pfn-neurons/
- Also known as: P-FN neurons; Protocerebral bridge–fan-shaped body–noduli neurons; PFNa; PFNd; PFNm; PFNp; PFNv
- Region: Central complex: protocerebral bridge, fan-shaped body and noduli
- System: Navigation
- 3D view: 3 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (PFNa 1, PFNp 2)

PFN neurons are columnar neurons of the fruit fly’s central complex that connect the protocerebral bridge, the fan-shaped body and the noduli. They combine the fly’s heading with self-motion signals, a step in computing the direction in which it is travelling.

### What they are

The complete connectome of the central complex describes several PFN types, including PFNa, PFNd, PFNm, PFNp and PFNv, which differ in the fan-shaped body layers they innervate and in the noduli inputs they receive (Hulse et al., 2021).

### What they do

As a fly walks, PFNd and PFNv neurons conjunctively encode its translational velocity and its heading: velocity signals from locomotor brain regions are multiplied with heading signals from the compass system. Downstream hΔB neurons pool their output into a world-centred representation of translational velocity (Lu et al., 2022).

A related study found a signal in the fan-shaped body that tracks the fly’s travelling direction relative to external cues, and described a circuit that computes it by adding vectors represented as sinusoidal patterns of activity across neuronal populations (Lyu et al., 2022).

Ventral PFN types, which include PFNa, PFNm and PFNp, are tuned to the direction of airflow, with cells in each hemisphere tuned to 45° on their own side (Currier et al., 2020). Imaging experiments suggest that ventral PFNs inherit this tuning from neurons that bring input from the lateral accessory lobe to the noduli (Currier et al., 2020).

### Behavior

Perturbing PFNd neurons disrupts path integration based on self-motion in walking flies (Lu et al., 2022), and silencing ventral PFNs prevented flies from making appropriate corrective turns after the airflow direction changed (Currier et al., 2020).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

- No experiment notes name these cells yet.

### Sources

- Hulse et al., 2021: A connectome of the Drosophila central complex reveals network motifs suitable for flexible navigation and context-dependent action selection. eLife 10:e66039. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.66039
- Lu et al., 2022: Transforming representations of movement from body- to world-centric space. Nature 601:98–104. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04191-x
- Lyu et al., 2022: Building an allocentric travelling direction signal via vector computation. Nature 601:92–97. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04067-0
- Currier et al., 2020: Encoding and control of orientation to airflow by a set of Drosophila fan-shaped body neurons. eLife 9:e61510. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.61510

## pC1 and P1 neurons

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/pc1-p1-neurons/
- Also known as: P1 neurons; pC1 cluster; doublesex-expressing pC1 neurons
- Region: Dorsal posterior central brain near the mushroom body, branching in both hemispheres
- System: Courtship
- 3D view: 1 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (pC1_14a 1)

pC1 is a cluster of neurons in the fruit fly brain that express the sex-determination gene doublesex. In males it includes the P1 neurons, a male-specific group that can initiate courtship and that sets the male’s state of courtship arousal.

### What they are

P1 is a male-specific cluster of about 20 interneurons that express both fruitless and doublesex. It lies in the dorsal posterior brain near the mushroom body, and each neuron has a main neurite that crosses the midline and branches extensively in the protocerebrum of both hemispheres. In females these cells die through the action of the female form of the Doublesex protein (Kimura et al., 2008).

P1 neurons lie within the larger doublesex-expressing pC1 cluster, part of which is also present in females (Robinett et al., 2010). The MaleCNS names the cluster’s cells as numbered subtypes, such as pC1_14a.

### What they do

Inducing a P1 clone in females provokes male-typical behavior even when the rest of the brain is not masculinized (Kimura et al., 2008). In males, the initiation of courtship correlates with activation of P1 neurons, and P1 neurites show a calcium rise when the male’s foreleg touches a female’s abdomen (Kohatsu et al., 2011).

P1 and the descending pIP10 neurons mediate the decision to sing courtship song, while thoracic neurons pattern the song (von Philipsborn et al., 2011).

### Courtship state

P1 activity sets a lasting state of arousal. During courtship it increases the gain of LC10a visual neurons, and fluctuations in P1 activity track the intensity of the male’s pursuit (Hindmarsh Sten et al., 2021).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

The Courtship Chamber records the rate of the male pC1 cluster, which contains P1, as its courtship readout, alongside LC10a, pIP10 and DNa02. The male’s body movements follow a pre-programmed timeline.

- Courtship Chamber: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/courtship-chamber/

### Sources

- Kimura et al., 2008: Fruitless and Doublesex Coordinate to Generate Male-Specific Neurons that Can Initiate Courtship. Neuron 59:759–769. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2008.06.007
- Robinett et al., 2010: Sex and the Single Cell. II. There Is a Time and Place for Sex. PLoS Biology 8:e1000365. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1000365
- Kohatsu et al., 2011: Female Contact Activates Male-Specific Interneurons that Trigger Stereotypic Courtship Behavior in Drosophila. Neuron 69:498–508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2010.12.017
- von Philipsborn et al., 2011: Neuronal Control of Drosophila Courtship Song. Neuron 69:509–522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2011.01.011
- Hindmarsh Sten et al., 2021: Sexual arousal gates visual processing during Drosophila courtship. Nature 595:549–553. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03714-w

## DNp01 (giant fiber)

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/dnp01-giant-fiber/
- Also known as: Giant fiber; Giant fibre; GF; Giant fiber neuron
- Region: Posterior brain; axon descends to the thoracic ganglion of the ventral nerve cord
- System: Descending and motor neurons
- 3D view: 2 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (DNp01 2)

DNp01, the giant fiber, is a large descending neuron of the fruit fly that triggers escape. A giant fiber on each side carries looming signals from the brain to the thoracic nerve cord, where it drives the leg and wing muscles of a rapid takeoff.

### What it is

In the descending neuron nomenclature, “DN” marks a descending neuron, “p” a cell body on the posterior surface of the brain and “01” its number: the giant fiber is DNp01 (Namiki et al., 2018). The giant fiber system is the neural circuit that mediates the fly’s escape response to visual stimuli (Allen et al., 2006).

### Where it sits

The giant fiber innervates the LC4 optic glomerulus in the brain (Namiki et al., 2018), and its axon descends through the neck to the thoracic ganglion. There its signal is relayed to leg and wing muscle motor neurons (Allen et al., 2006; Tanouye and Wyman, 1980), including the jump muscle motor neuron (Klapoetke et al., 2017).

### What it does

Faced with a looming stimulus, a fly makes either a long escape sequence that leads to stable flight or a short one that sacrifices stability for speed. The timing of a giant fiber spike relative to parallel escape circuits determines which one occurs: the giant fiber has a higher activation threshold but can override ongoing behavior to force the short takeoff (von Reyn et al., 2014).

The giant fiber sums two visual features of the approaching object: its angular expansion velocity, from LC4, and its angular size, from LPLC2 (von Reyn et al., 2017; Ache et al., 2019).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

DNp01 is the escape readout throughout the registry. In the Looming Escape (Fly Swatter) experiment, a measured DNp01 spike in a window that ends before contact triggers the pre-programmed takeoff; the Motor Circuits Bench drives it directly and measures downstream propagation. The display bundle also contains motor neurons of the tergotrochanteral muscle (type Tergotr. MN), the jump muscle.

- Media Observation: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/movie/
- Motor Circuits Bench: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/motor-lab/
- Torture Chamber: Six Documented Devices: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/torture-chamber/
- The Ludovico Technique: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ludovico/
- Looming Escape (Fly Swatter): https://theflybrain.com/experiments/fly-swatter/
- Dreamachine: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/dreamachine/

### Sources

- Namiki et al., 2018: The functional organization of descending sensory-motor pathways in Drosophila. eLife 7:e34272. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.34272
- Allen et al., 2006: Making an escape: Development and function of the Drosophila giant fibre system. Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology 17:31–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2005.11.011
- Tanouye and Wyman, 1980: Motor outputs of giant nerve fiber in Drosophila. Journal of Neurophysiology 44:405–421. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.1980.44.2.405
- von Reyn et al., 2014: A spike-timing mechanism for action selection. Nature Neuroscience 17:962–970. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3741
- von Reyn et al., 2017: Feature Integration Drives Probabilistic Behavior in the Drosophila Escape Response. Neuron 94:1190–1204.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.05.036
- Ache et al., 2019: Neural Basis for Looming Size and Velocity Encoding in the Drosophila Giant Fiber Escape Pathway. Current Biology 29:1073–1081.e4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.01.079
- Klapoetke et al., 2017: Ultra-selective looming detection from radial motion opponency. Nature 551:237–241. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24626

## DNa02

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/dna02/
- Also known as: DNa02 descending neuron
- Region: Anterior dorsal brain; axon descends on the same side into the ventral nerve cord
- System: Descending and motor neurons
- 3D view: 2 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (DNa02 2)

DNa02 is a descending neuron of the fruit fly that helps steer walking. Each side has one; its activity rises just before the fly turns toward that side, and it shortens the strides of the legs on the inside of the turn.

### What it is

Its name marks a descending neuron (DN) whose cell body lies in the anterior dorsal cluster (a) (Namiki et al., 2018). DNa02 is represented by a single right–left pair, and its activity correlates with the fly’s rotational velocity: the cell in the right hemisphere is more active during right turns, and vice versa (Yang et al., 2024).

### Where it sits

Unlike DNg13, another steering-related descending neuron, DNa02’s axon does not cross the midline as it descends into the ventral nerve cord. DNa02 is directly targeted by central complex output neurons responsible for feedback control of heading, and its direct inputs in the brain largely differ from those of DNg13 (Yang et al., 2024).

### What it does

DNa02 spiking increases just before a decrease in the stride length of the legs on the same side and a turn toward that side. Stimulating DNa02 on one side shortened the strides of all three legs on that side, mainly by shortening the return stroke; activating both cells slowed the fly without changing its heading (Yang et al., 2024).

### Behavior

DNa02 and DNg13 evoke different leg “gestures”: one lengthens strides on the outside of a turn and the other, DNa02, attenuates strides on the inside (Yang et al., 2024).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

DNa02 is the steering readout in many experiments. In the Flight Simulator and Project Pigeon experiments, each measured window turns the scene by a gain times the filtered right-minus-left DNa02 rate, which changes the next retinal image.

- Media Observation: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/movie/
- Motor Circuits Bench: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/motor-lab/
- The Ludovico Technique: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ludovico/
- Project Pigeon Nose-Cone Guidance: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/project-pigeon/
- Flight Simulator: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/flight-simulator/
- T-Maze Odor Conditioning: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/t-maze/
- Courtship Chamber: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/courtship-chamber/
- Ganzfeld Protocol: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ganzfeld/

### Sources

- Yang et al., 2024: Fine-grained descending control of steering in walking Drosophila. Cell 187:6290–6308.e27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.08.033
- Namiki et al., 2018: The functional organization of descending sensory-motor pathways in Drosophila. eLife 7:e34272. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.34272

## Descending neurons

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/descending-neurons/
- Also known as: DNs; Descending interneurons
- Region: Brain to ventral nerve cord, through the neck connective
- System: Descending and motor neurons
- 3D view: 29 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (DNa02 2, DNa11 1, DNb02 1, DNb03 1, DNd03 1, DNg03 1, DNg05_b 1, DNg07 1, DNg12_a 1, DNg23 1, DNg100 2, DNg106 1, DNg109 1, DNge019 1, DNge041 1, DNge093 1, DNge115 1, DNge121 1, DNge125 1, DNp01 2, DNp32 1, DNp33 1, DNp46 1, DNp66 1, DNpe015 1, DNpe039 1)

Descending neurons carry signals from the fruit fly’s brain through the neck to the ventral nerve cord, where the circuits for the legs and wings are. Complete connectomes count about 1,300 of them.

### What they are

In most animals the brain controls the body through descending neurons that traverse the neck, and their activity activates, maintains or modulates locomotion and other behaviors (Namiki et al., 2018). A light-microscopy survey estimated about 350 on each side of the fly brain (Namiki et al., 2018); electron-microscopy reconstructions later found 1,315 to 1,347 across three datasets, almost twice the earlier estimate (Stürner et al., 2025).

### Names

Names follow a scheme introduced in 2018: “DN”, then a letter for the position of the cell body (a, anterior dorsal; b, anterior ventral; c, pars intercerebralis; d, outside the anterior cluster; g, gnathal ganglion; p, posterior surface of the brain; x, outside the brain), then a number (Namiki et al., 2018). Cell types in the MaleCNS follow and extend this scheme.

### Organization

Their targets in the nerve cord form a layered system that reflects two largely independent means of locomotion, walking and flight (Namiki et al., 2018). In the male nerve cord connectome, direct connections from descending neurons onto motor neurons are infrequent (Cheong et al., 2026). Command-like descending neurons directly recruit networks of other descending neurons to orchestrate behaviors that involve many body parts (Braun et al., 2024).

### Behavior

Optogenetic activation of individual descending neuron types in freely moving flies drove stereotyped behaviors for most types; several types evoked similar behaviors, and the result often depended on what the fly was doing beforehand (Cande et al., 2018). Well-studied examples include the giant fiber, DNp01, which triggers escape takeoff, and DNa02, which shortens the strides on the inside of a turn.

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

Descending neurons are the main measured outputs in the workstation’s experiments. The fly’s body movements are pre-programmed animations that illustrate measured readouts; they are not driven by a mechanical model of the nerve cord.

- Media Observation: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/movie/
- Synthetic Analprint Assay: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/surface/
- Touch and Grooming Bench: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/touch-lab/
- Motor Circuits Bench: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/motor-lab/
- Torture Chamber: Six Documented Devices: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/torture-chamber/
- The Ludovico Technique: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ludovico/
- Project Pigeon Nose-Cone Guidance: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/project-pigeon/
- Flight Simulator: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/flight-simulator/
- T-Maze Odor Conditioning: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/t-maze/
- Courtship Chamber: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/courtship-chamber/
- Looming Escape (Fly Swatter): https://theflybrain.com/experiments/fly-swatter/
- Ganzfeld Protocol: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/ganzfeld/
- Dreamachine: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/dreamachine/

### Sources

- Namiki et al., 2018: The functional organization of descending sensory-motor pathways in Drosophila. eLife 7:e34272. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.34272
- Stürner et al., 2025: Comparative connectomics of Drosophila descending and ascending neurons. Nature 643:158–172. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08925-z
- Cande et al., 2018: Optogenetic dissection of descending behavioral control in Drosophila. eLife 7:e34275. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.34275
- Cheong et al., 2026: Organization of circuits linking descending input to motor output in the Drosophila Male Adult Nerve Cord connectome. eLife 13:RP96084. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.96084
- Braun et al., 2024: Descending networks transform command signals into population motor control. Nature 630:686–694. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07523-9

## Leg motor neurons

- Page: https://theflybrain.com/neurons/leg-motor-neurons/
- Also known as: Leg MNs; Leg motoneurons
- Region: Ventral nerve cord (thoracic ganglia); axons end on leg muscles
- System: Descending and motor neurons
- 3D view: 60 of the 626 reconstructed neurons in the site’s MaleCNS display bundle, which shows 626 of the model’s 166,700 neurons (Acc. ti flexor MN 6, Acc. tr flexor MN 4, Fe reductor MN 2, ltm MN 3, ltm1-tibia MN 2, ltm2-femur MN 5, MNhl02 1, MNhl60 1, MNhl62 1, MNhl64 1, MNhl65 1, MNml78 1, MNml79 1, MNml80 1, MNml82 1, Pleural remotor/abductor MN 3, Sternal adductor MN 1, Sternal posterior rotator MN 3, Sternotrochanter MN 1, Ta levator MN 1, Tergopleural/Pleural promotor MN 1, Tergotr. MN 3, Ti extensor MN 2, Ti flexor MN 5, Tr extensor MN 1, Tr flexor MN 7, untyped 1)

Leg motor neurons have their cell bodies and dendrites in the fruit fly’s ventral nerve cord and send their axons to the muscles of the legs. About 50 motor neurons control each leg.

### What they are

About 50 motor neurons operate each fly leg (Azevedo et al., 2020). They are born from at least 11 neuroblast lineages, two of which generate most of them; each is born at a characteristic time, from a specific lineage, and has a stereotyped dendritic architecture (Baek and Mann, 2009).

### Where they sit

They lie in the thoracic part of the ventral nerve cord, which in an adult female contains roughly 14,600 neuronal cell bodies and 45 million synapses (Azevedo et al., 2024). Most cell-type names in this display bundle give the muscle a neuron controls, such as the tibia flexor (Ti flexor MN) or the trochanter extensor (Tr extensor MN).

### What they do

Each leg motor neuron controls a particular range of force and speed. Recordings from the tibia flexor motor neurons show that they are recruited in a fixed order, from neurons producing small, slow movements for posture to those producing large, fast movements for running or escape, the same size principle described in other animals (Azevedo et al., 2020).

A connectome of the female nerve cord mapped leg and wing motor neurons to their muscles and identified circuits that coordinate leg and wing movements during takeoff (Azevedo et al., 2024). In the male nerve cord connectome, direct connections from descending neurons onto motor neurons are infrequent, and communities of interneurons are putatively linked to walking, flight and the coordination of wings and legs (Cheong et al., 2026).

### In TheFlyBrain experiments

The fly’s gait and posture on TheFlyBrain are kinematic animations, not driven by these motor neurons. The Media Observation experiment labels its task stimulation of walking and foreleg motor cells in the interface.

- Media Observation: https://theflybrain.com/experiments/movie/

### Sources

- Azevedo et al., 2020: A size principle for recruitment of Drosophila leg motor neurons. eLife 9:e56754. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.56754
- Baek and Mann, 2009: Lineage and Birth Date Specify Motor Neuron Targeting and Dendritic Architecture in Adult Drosophila. Journal of Neuroscience 29:6904–6916. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.1585-09.2009
- Azevedo et al., 2024: Connectomic reconstruction of a female Drosophila ventral nerve cord. Nature 631:360–368. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07389-x
- Cheong et al., 2026: Organization of circuits linking descending input to motor output in the Drosophila Male Adult Nerve Cord connectome. eLife 13:RP96084. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.96084

## Glossary

### Cell type

A group of neurons with the same shape, position and connections, given a shared name such as T4a, LC4 or DNp01. One optic lobe of a male fly contains about 53,000 neurons classified into 732 types (Nern et al., 2025). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#cell-type)

### Central complex

A group of neuropils on the midline of the fly brain (the protocerebral bridge, fan-shaped body, ellipsoid body and noduli) that supports directed locomotion, sleep and navigation and keeps track of the fly’s heading (Hulse et al., 2021). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#central-complex)

### Compound eye

An eye made of many ommatidia, each looking at a small part of the visual field. The browser previews on this site include a modeled compound-eye mosaic for inspection; the input the model receives is the separate 32-column retinal input. (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#compound-eye)

### Connectome

A map of the neurons of a nervous system and the synaptic connections between them. Fruit fly connectomes are reconstructed from electron microscopy: the hemibrain covers about 25,000 neurons of the central brain (Scheffer et al., 2020), FlyWire maps 139,255 neurons of a whole female brain (Dorkenwald et al., 2024), and the MaleCNS covers the brain and ventral nerve cord of a male. (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#connectome)

### Descending neuron

A neuron that carries signals from the brain through the neck to the ventral nerve cord. Complete connectomes count about 1,300 in the fruit fly, alongside about 1,700 to 1,900 ascending neurons that carry information the other way (Stürner et al., 2025). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#descending-neuron)

### Drosophila melanogaster

The common fruit fly, one of the most widely studied animals in genetics and neuroscience. A complete synapse-level wiring diagram of an adult female brain was published in 2024 (Dorkenwald et al., 2024). TheFlyBrain’s fly, Specimen 237, is a model of this species. (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#drosophila-melanogaster)

### Electron microscopy (EM)

Imaging with a beam of electrons instead of light, at a resolution high enough to see individual synapses. To build a connectome, a brain is imaged as a stack of very thin slices or milled layers, and every neuron is traced through the stack (Scheffer et al., 2020; Nern et al., 2025). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#electron-microscopy)

### Fixed weights

Connection strengths that stay constant. The weights of TheFlyBrain’s model are the same in every experiment, so the model does not learn. (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#fixed-weights)

### FlyEM

The project team at HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus that reconstructs fruit fly connectomes from electron microscopy, including the hemibrain (Scheffer et al., 2020) and the MaleCNS. (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#flyem)

### FlyWire

A connectome of the whole brain of an adult female fruit fly: 139,255 neurons and about 50 million chemical synapses, reconstructed from electron microscopy, with annotations of cell types and predicted neurotransmitters (Dorkenwald et al., 2024). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#flywire)

### Hemibrain

A 2020 connectome of the central region of a fruit fly brain: about 25,000 neurons and around 20 million connections, imaged in slices 8 nm thick (Scheffer et al., 2020). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#hemibrain)

### Kenyon cell

An intrinsic neuron of the mushroom body. Kenyon cells respond sparsely to odors, and their synapses onto mushroom body output neurons are where dopamine is positioned to act during learning (Turner et al., 2008; Aso et al., 2014). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#kenyon-cell)

### Lamina

The first neuropil of the optic lobe. It is built from cartridges, each receiving R1–R6 photoreceptor input and containing the lamina monopolar cells L1–L5 (Meinertzhagen and O'Neil, 1991). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#lamina)

### Leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF)

A simple spiking neuron model: each unit adds up its inputs, its voltage decays (leaks) back toward rest, and it fires a spike and resets when the voltage reaches a threshold. flybrain 0.1.0 uses LIF units with a common 100 ms membrane time constant and a 20 ms step, so it cannot represent rates above 50 spikes per second. (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#leaky-integrate-and-fire)

### Lobula

A neuropil of the optic lobe that contains the dendrites of T5 motion detectors and of lobula columnar (LC) visual projection neurons, whose axons carry visual features to the central brain (Wu et al., 2016). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#lobula)

### Lobula plate

A neuropil of the optic lobe with four layers, one for each cardinal direction of motion, where the axons of the T4 and T5 subtypes terminate (Maisak et al., 2013). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#lobula-plate)

### Looming

The rapid expansion of an object’s image as it approaches on a collision course. In the fly, looming is detected by visual projection neurons such as LC4 and LPLC2, which drive the giant fiber escape neuron (Klapoetke et al., 2017; Ache et al., 2019). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#looming)

### MaleCNS

The connectome of the complete central nervous system of a male fruit fly, brain and ventral nerve cord, reconstructed from electron microscopy by FlyEM at HHMI Janelia and collaborators and released under CC BY 4.0. TheFlyBrain’s model uses the retained MaleCNS v1.0 graph of 166,700 neurons and 25,582,938 directed connections. (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#malecns)

### Medulla

The second neuropil of the optic lobe, organized in columns and layers. R7 and R8 photoreceptors end here (Gao et al., 2008), and lamina signals are split into parallel channels, including the ON and OFF pathways that feed the T4 and T5 motion detectors (Takemura et al., 2013). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#medulla)

### Micro-CT

X-ray micro-computed tomography: a scan that reconstructs an object’s 3D structure from X-ray images taken from many angles. The NeuroMechFly body model used for the fly is derived from micro-CT scans of a female fruit fly. (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#micro-ct)

### Motor neuron

A neuron whose axon ends on a muscle and makes it contract. About 50 motor neurons operate each fruit fly leg (Azevedo et al., 2020). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#motor-neuron)

### Mushroom body

A paired brain structure for associative learning and memory, formed on each side by the parallel axons of about 2,000 Kenyon cells and divided into 15 compartments by output and dopaminergic neurons (Aso et al., 2014). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#mushroom-body)

### NeuroMechFly

An open neuromechanical model of the adult fruit fly body; version 2 adds vision, olfaction, ascending motor feedback and complex terrain (Wang-Chen et al., 2024). The fly on this site uses NeuroMechFly v2 body assets with 69 articulated segments. Its body and the MaleCNS nervous system come from different specimens and are not anatomically registered. (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#neuromechfly)

### Neuron

A cell that carries signals in the nervous system. A neuron receives input on its dendrites and passes signals along its axon to other cells through synapses. Most insect neurons are unipolar: a single neurite leaves the cell body and branches into dendrites and axon. (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#neuron)

### Ommatidium

One of the many unit eyes that make up the compound eye. Each fruit fly ommatidium has its own lens and eight photoreceptors, R1 to R8 (Meinertzhagen and O'Neil, 1991). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#ommatidium)

### ON and OFF pathways

Parallel visual channels for brightness increments (ON) and decrements (OFF). In the fly they begin with lamina neurons L1 (ON) and L2 (OFF) and end in the T4 (ON) and T5 (OFF) motion detectors (Joesch et al., 2010; Maisak et al., 2013). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#on-and-off-pathways)

### Optic flow

The pattern of motion across the eyes produced by an animal’s own movement, such as the wide-field rotation seen when a fly turns. In the fly, local motion is computed by T4 and T5 and integrated by wide-field motion-sensitive neurons of the lobula plate (Maisak et al., 2013). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#optic-flow)

### Optic lobe

The visual part of the fly brain on each side, behind the compound eye. Its neuropils are the lamina, medulla, lobula and lobula plate. One optic lobe of a male fly contains about 53,000 neurons (Nern et al., 2025). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#optic-lobe)

### Photoreceptor

A light-sensing cell. Each fruit fly ommatidium has six outer photoreceptors (R1–R6), used mainly for motion vision, and two inner ones (R7 and R8), which provide color vision (Gao et al., 2008; Wardill et al., 2012). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#photoreceptor)

### Retinal input (32 columns)

The visual input of TheFlyBrain’s model. Each scene is rendered from the fly’s head, averaged vertically into 32 luminance columns across the visual field, and delivered to the model’s photoreceptors by estimated azimuth. It carries no color or vertical structure, is not a model of compound-eye optics, and display settings never change it. (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#retinal-input)

### Skeleton reconstruction

A simplified representation of a reconstructed neuron as a tree of connected points that follows its branches. The 3D views on this site draw downsampled skeletons of 626 MaleCNS neurons. (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#skeleton-reconstruction)

### Soma

The cell body of a neuron, which contains the nucleus. In insects the somata lie in a rind, the cortex, around the neuropils, connected to the neuron’s branches by a single neurite. The faint dots in the site’s 3D views mark a sample of MaleCNS soma positions. (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#soma)

### Spiking neural network

A model in which each neuron produces discrete spikes when its membrane voltage crosses a threshold, and the spikes reach other neurons through weighted connections. TheFlyBrain’s workstation runs the MaleCNS graph as such a network with flybrain 0.1.0, an open-source Python package (MIT License). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#spiking-neural-network)

### Synapse

A junction where one neuron passes a signal to another. At a chemical synapse the sending cell releases a neurotransmitter; at an electrical synapse current flows directly between cells through gap junctions. Electron-microscopy connectomes record the chemical synapses between neurons (Dorkenwald et al., 2024). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#synapse)

### Synaptic plasticity

An activity-dependent change in the strength of a synapse, the cellular basis of learning. In the mushroom body, dopaminergic neurons are positioned to modify the synapses from Kenyon cells onto output neurons (Aso et al., 2014). TheFlyBrain’s model has no plasticity. (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#synaptic-plasticity)

### Ventral nerve cord (VNC)

The part of the fly’s central nervous system in the thorax, its counterpart of the spinal cord, which contains the circuits that sense and move the legs and wings. The ventral nerve cord of an adult female contains roughly 14,600 neuronal cell bodies and 45 million synapses (Azevedo et al., 2024). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#ventral-nerve-cord)

### Visual projection neuron

A neuron that carries visual information from the optic lobe to the central brain. Each lobula columnar (LC) type sends its axons to its own compact target region, an optic glomerulus (Wu et al., 2016). (https://theflybrain.com/glossary/#visual-projection-neuron)