# Generating an Executable Model of the Drosophila Central Complex

## TL;DR

This paper shows how to build and test models of the fly brain's central complex using NeuroArch and Neurokernel.

## Contribution

It introduces a method for algorithmically constructing executable models of the Drosophila central complex neuropils.

## Key findings

- NeuroArch and Neurokernel can be used to model the structure and connectivity of the central complex.
- The approach allows testing hypotheses about the neural circuitry and neuron properties in the CX.
- The method leverages available data on neuron arborizations to build executable models.

## Abstract

The central complex (CX) is a set of neuropils in the center of the fly brain that have been implicated as playing an important role in vision-mediated behavior and integration of spatial information for locomotor control. In contrast to currently available data regarding the neural circuitry of neuropils in the fly's vision and olfactory systems, comparable data for the CX neuropils is relatively incomplete; many categories of neurons remain only partly characterized, and the synaptic connectivity between CX neurons has yet to be experimentally determined. Successful modeling of the information processing functions of the CX neuropils therefore requires a means of easily constructing and testing a range of hypotheses regarding both the high-level structure of their neural circuitry and the properties of their constituent neurons and synapses. This document demonstrates how NeuroArch and Neurokernel may be used to algorithmically construct and evaluate executable neural circuit models of the CX neuropils and their interconnects based upon currently available information regarding the geometry and polarity of the arborizations of identified local and projection neurons in the CX.