Anatomy of the central complex

Anatomical overview of the adult central complex (CX) and its accessory neuropils, from Figure 1 of Hulse et al. (2021). Panel A places the CX within the hemibrain volume alongside the medulla (ME), lobula (LO) and subesophageal zone (SEZ). Panel B shows the immediate surrounds — superior protocerebrum (SLP, SIP, SMP), inferior neuropils (CRE, RUB, ROB) and lateral neuropils (BU, GA, LAL). Panels C–E give frontal, lateral, and dorsal views of the five core CX structures: ellipsoid body (EB), fan-shaped body (FB), protocerebral bridge (PB), paired noduli (NO), and the asymmetric body (AB). Click a labelled neuropil to open the corresponding term in Virtual Fly Brain.
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https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.66039

Figure reproduced under CC-BY 4.0 from Hulse BK, Haberkern H, Franconville R, Turner-Evans DB, Takemura S, Wolff T, Noorman M, Dreher M, Dan C, Parekh R, Hermundstad AM, Rubin GM, Jayaraman V (2021). A connectome of the Drosophila central complex reveals network motifs suitable for flexible navigation and context-dependent action selection. eLife 10:e66039.


Last modified May 7, 2026: Fix imagemap rendering in five anatomy diagrams (e89e119)