A neural circuit for stereopsis in the fly

LC14 neurons in Drosophila melanogaster form a recurrent cross-brain circuit that performs binocular depth estimation, with tuning optimized for social target size and distance.

• Why it matters: A wiring-level circuit mechanism for stereopsis has been missing in the fly, despite models and recordings suggesting binocular computations.
• What they did: Using two whole-brain connectomes, the authors built a connectome-constrained model showing that recurrence is critical for binocular distance tuning, and tested LC14 by silencing or activating the neurons.
• The result: Silencing LC14 makes downstream circuitry rely on monocular information and changes distance-dependent courtship, while LC14 activation makes flies slow to an illusory binocular object.

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