Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas 352 | Bing Brunton on Connecting the Connectome to the Body
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Apr 27, 2026 
Bing Brunton, neuroscientist and UW professor who maps connectomes, discusses linking wiring diagrams to body movement. She explains how fruit-fly connectomes reveal circuits for walking, how tiny rhythm-generating networks can drive limbs, and why embedding neural maps in simulated bodies and real flies helps test predictions. The conversation touches on limits, validation experiments, and implications for embodiment and rehabilitation.
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From Worms To Flies Whole-Brain Maps Arrived
- The first full connectome was C. elegans (~300 neurons) decades ago; fruit fly whole-brain and ventral nerve cord maps (150K + 22K neurons) arrived recently.
- The fly nervous system is sesame-seed sized, enabling cell-by-cell reconstruction.
Bigger Brains Can Be Easier To Interpret
- Larger fly connectomes may be easier to interpret than C. elegans because flies have distinct cell types, jointed limbs, and less chemical/mechanical multiplexing.
- Specialization and scale create computational motifs more tractable from wiring alone.
Central Pattern Generators Produce Rhythms
- Central pattern generators (CPGs) are neural circuits that produce rhythmic motor patterns for locomotion, breathing, digestion, and more.
- CPGs generate cycles internally, not purely by reflexes, and are foundational for movement.