Brains Response to Motion – Case Study

ISSUE: a client of ours needed a fly plate designed with micro components that they could attach a fly to in order to continue their research

DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT: Researchers wanted ot study fruit fly brains to get a better understanding of human brains. They needed a device to hold the fly in place in order to do their study.
The fly plates purpose was to measure the insect’s response to motion. By separating the color sensitivity of the flies’ inner and outer receptors they could learn how color and motion signals interact in the brain.

RESULTS: MES designed a plate that allowed the fly to be comfortably secured while allowing the researchers to conduct their study. The results showed that fly brains use inputs from photoreceptors that are sensitive to different colors to improve its motion perception.The neural networks, at a microscopic level, are very similar between fruit flies and humans. These results shed light on how the human brain processes things. Amazing!