flyconnectome-nulls

Evolves foraging agents whose brain is a compressed FlyWire v783 connectome alongside populations built on randomised wiring, and shows that the choice of null model decides the answer. Column shuffles and degree-preserving swaps overtake the connectome by generation 600 in 10 of 10 seeds, but they also create direct olfactory-to-motor links the real graph almost lacks (0.012% against 10.6-10.7%). Controls that randomise only the interior erase the gap, and transplanting those shortcuts into the connectome adds 0.44 fitness. Five pre-registration protocols were frozen before the runs.

Official site ↗

#null-models#controls#neuroevolution#pre-registration#flywire#preprint