Software engineer Alex Wormuth has successfully utilized a comprehensive map of a fruit fly’s brain, developed by Google and HHMI Janelia Research, to simulate gameplay in the classic shooter Doom.

Key Points

• Google and HHMI Janelia Research mapped the male fruit fly brain, identifying 166,000 neurons and 11,700 neuron types.
• The simulation processes 4,146 visual inputs per frame, routing data through 25.6 million neural connections to determine game controls.
• Nonfatal damage in the game triggers simulated dopamine receptors, mimicking biological responses to hunger and aggression.
• Developers have expanded the project to teach the simulated brain to play Super Mario 64, Beat Saber, and soccer.
• The experiment includes financial applications, such as testing the simulated brain's ability to trade bitcoin and deploy cryptocurrency tokens.

Why it Matters

This project demonstrates the practical application of complex neural mapping in artificial intelligence development and behavioral simulation. While the gaming experiments are largely experimental, the underlying research provides neuroscientists with critical insights into the structural mechanisms that govern brain function.