ArticlePloS one2021
The number of neurons in Drosophila and mosquito brains.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers.
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53 citing papers in PubMed, 125 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Sex- and Male-Morph-Specific Variation in Brain Mass and Cell Number Scaling in Solitary Centris pallida (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Bees.The Journal of comparative neurology · 2026Article
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- A rapid and dynamic role for FMRP in the plasticity of adult neurons.Nature communications · 2025Article
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- Inactivation of Laforin Phosphatase and Increased Glucose Uptake Underlie Glycogen Synthase-Mediated Neuronal Survival Under Oxidative Stress.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Article
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- Transcriptional complexity in the insect central complex: single nuclei RNA-sequencing of adult brain neurons derived from type 2 neuroblasts.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Molecular profiling of invertebrate glia.Glia · 2025Review
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- The Drosophila adult brain: short overview of structure, function, and resources Graphical Review Paper.Current research in insect science · 2025Review
- NeuroMechFly v2: simulating embodied sensorimotor control in adult Drosophila.Nature methods · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Various insect species serve as valuable model systems for investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which a brain controls sophisticated behaviors. In particular, the nervous system of Drosophila melanogaster has been extensively studied, yet experiments aimed at determining the number of neurons in the Drosophila brain are surprisingly lacking. Using isotropic fractionator coupled with immunohistochemistry, we counted the total number of neuronal and non-neuronal cells in the whole brain, central brain, and optic lobe of Drosophila melanogaster. For comparison, we also counted neuronal populations in three divergent mosquito species: Aedes aegypti, Anopheles coluzzii and Culex quinquefasciatus. The average number of neurons in a whole adult brain was determined to be 199,380 ±3,400 cells in D. melanogaster, 217,910 ±6,180 cells in Ae. aegypti, 223,020 ± 4,650 cells in An. coluzzii and 225,911±7,220 cells in C. quinquefasciatus. The mean neuronal cell count in the central brain vs. optic lobes for D. melanogaster (101,140 ±3,650 vs. 107,270 ± 2,720), Ae. aegypti (109,140 ± 3,550 vs. 112,000 ± 4,280), An. coluzzii (105,130 ± 3,670 vs. 107,140 ± 3,090), and C. quinquefasciatus (108,530 ±7,990 vs. 110,670 ± 3,950) was also estimated. Each insect brain was comprised of 89% ± 2% neurons out of its total cell population. Isotropic fractionation analyses did not identify obvious sexual dimorphism in the neuronal and non-neuronal cell population of these insects. Our study provides experimental evidence for the total number of neurons in Drosophila and mosquito brains.
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