Eon Systems has simulated 125,000 neurons and 50 million synaptic connections of an adult fruit fly. The model was then placed into a virtual environment reminiscent of the ‘Matrix’.
The experiment’s video was published by the company’s co-founder, Alex Wissner-Gross. It shows an animated insect moving its legs, rubbing them together, and drinking from a small dish using its proboscis in a simulated ‘sandbox’.
“For decades, whole brain emulation has been a tantalizing analogue of artificial intelligence. To copy it neuron by neuron, synapse by synapse, and run it,” wrote Wissner-Gross.
According to the scientist, the experiment is “the world’s first embodiment of a full brain emulation capable of producing multiple types of behavior.” It is based on research by Eon Systems’ senior research scientist Philip Shiu and his colleagues.
In 2024, experts created a complete computational model of the fruit fly’s brain to study its neural connections responsible for feeding and grooming.
The team utilized an existing Princeton University project for the complete development of the insect brain’s neural circuitry, the FlyWire connectome.
The research revealed that the computational model predicts the motor behavior of the simulated fly with about 95% accuracy.
“Activation of neurons sensitive to sugar or water in the computational model accurately predicts the nerve cells responding to taste,” the article states.
Wissner-Gross noted that scientists at Eon Systems provided the “disembodied brain” with an environment to exist.
“Sensory signals come in, neural activity spreads throughout the connectome, motor commands go out, and the physically simulated body executes them. For the first time in history, whole brain emulation closes the loop from perception to action,” stated Wissner-Gross.
He added that the experiment builds on previous research, such as the work by DeepMind’s team in 2025, where the fruit fly’s neural pathways were modeled using reinforcement learning.
Eon Systems aims to advance further. It plans to first create a digital emulation of a mouse brain, and then a human brain.
However, achieving such a level requires colossal work. A mouse brain contains over 500 times more neurons than that of a fruit fly.
“If the sensory-motor loop could be closed in the fly simulation, for a mouse, it’s a matter of scale, not principle,” wrote Wissner-Gross.
Back in July 2024, Chinese scientists developed a robot with a lab-grown artificial brain, capable of being taught to perform various tasks.