Six Stanford University research scientists have been awarded $1.3 million to use a laser-based form of imaging to observe the brain patterns of 96 fruit flies simultaneously.

The goal is to gain an understanding of the engineering principles of the neural circuits of a fly's brain, which should increase knowledge of brain function.

"Over the last decade, flies have become an increasingly important model in the study of brain disease," said Mark Schnitzer, assistant professor of biology and applied physics. The structure of neural circuitry in the brains of fruit flies is very consistent, which makes them ideal for the study.

In the project being funded by the W.M. Keck Foundation, a single laser beam will be split into 96 beams, each penetrating the brain of an individual fly, so scientists can observe all 96 flies at the same time as they react to various external stimuli.

The project being funded is called massively parallel brain imaging.

The multi-disciplinary effort includes professors of applied physics, biology, engineering, computer science, neurobiology, genetics, developmental biology and bioengineering.

-- Don Kazak