Brain-wide activity imaging with electron microscopy reveals a distributed brain network for processing threatening somatosensory stimuli.

A registered whole-brain activity-to-electron microscopy workflow in Drosophila larvae identifies a distributed network for threatening somatosensory processing spanning 25 distinct lineages.

• Why it matters: Light-sheet activity maps lack the projection-level resolution needed to identify most neurons, limiting how well functional activity can be overlaid onto synaptic-resolution circuit architecture.
• What they did: The authors imaged neuronal activity during Basin interneuron activation, then imaged the same brain with eFIB-SEM, registered functional and anatomical volumes, and reconstructed responsive neurons’ projections to determine lineage and identity.
• The result: Neurons responding to Basin activation form a distributed network across many brain areas, enabling activity-to-structure mapping that clarifies central processing of threatening somatosensory stimuli linked to vigorous escape.

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