A long series of research led to the discovery of male specific fly neurons in 1980. The beginning of this research can be traced back to a 19th century scientist by the name of Santiago Ramon y Cajal. Cajal essentially launched the study of the neural system. In his research, Cajal studied the neural systems of rabbits. He was the first researcher to isolate nerve cells near the surface of the brain. These cells are known as Cajal's cells in recognition of his work. Another significant discovery which Cajal made was that nerve fibers are bridged by electrical discharges. Previously it was thought that the nerve fibers were physically connected together in a network. Santiago Ramon y Cajal's work sparked a tremendous amount of research in the neurosciences.

Much of the research in the neurosciences has been done in order to reach a greater understanding of what happens from perception to action. Neuropsychology, the study of sensory and perceptual processes, and Neurophysiology, the study of motor processes, are two sciences that have developed throughout the 20th century. Dozens of researchers have contributed to these growing sciences. During the 1970s and 1980s Ernst Poppel and W. Fries made many developments in the study of the visual information processing of humans. Several psychologists including Sigmund Freud also added to the multitude of research in the neurosciences. All of this research was essential to the eventual discovery and understanding of male specific fly neurons.

A research project which directly led up to the discovery of male specific neurons was performed by Michael Land and Thomas Collett. In 1979 they observed the behavior of flies and formed a theory about how the flies are able to chase moving objects. Based on their observations Land and Collett proposed that two systems were responsible for how a fly pinpoint an object in motion. They proposed that one system detects the velocity of an object and another system detects the position.

Male specific fly neurons were discovered in 1980. Soon after, the system for how flies are able to see moving objects was also studied and identified. The actual system was remarkably similar to the Land and Collett theoretical model.