title: A systematic nomenclature for the insect brain.
abstract: Despite the importance of the insect nervous system for functional and developmental neuroscience, descriptions of insect brains have suffered from a lack of uniform nomenclature. Ambiguous definitions of brain regions and fiber bundles have contributed to the variation of names used to describe the same structure. The lack of clearly determined neuropil boundaries has made it difficult to document precise locations of neuronal projections for connectomics study. To address such issues, a consortium of neurobiologists studying arthropod brains, the Insect Brain Name Working Group, has established the present hierarchical nomenclature system, using the brain of Drosophila melanogaster as the reference framework, while taking the brains of other taxa into careful consideration for maximum consistency and expandability. The following summarizes the consortium's nomenclature system and highlights examples of existing ambiguities and remedies for them. This nomenclature is intended to serve as a standard of reference for the study of the brain of Drosophila and other insects.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan. Electronic address: itokei@iam.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shinomiya
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB, UK.
authors.forename: J Douglas
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Boyan
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hartenstein
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, D-17498 Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harzsch
authors.affiliation: Rudolph-Virchow-Center, Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg, D-97080 Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heisenberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Animal Physiology, Philipps-University of Marburg, D-35032 Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Homberg
authors.affiliation: HHMI Janelia Farm Research Campus, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
authors.forename: Arnim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jenett
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 USA.
authors.forename: Haig
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Keshishian
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Center for Insect Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
authors.forename: Linda L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Restifo
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, Biocenter, Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rössler
authors.affiliation: HHMI Janelia Farm Research Campus, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
authors.forename: Julie H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Center for Insect Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Strausfeld
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Johannes-Gutenberg-University of Mainz, D-55099 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Strauss
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, HHMI-The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Leslie B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Vosshall
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D019581:Neuropil; D009626:Terminology as Topic