Over-activating side pacemaker neurons disrupts timing signals and causes multiple behavior cycles in the fly's daily rhythm system

Functional ablation of the LNV clock neurons in Drosophila abolishes circadian rhythms of locomotor activity.

• Hyperexcitation of LNVs through transgenic methods leads to the decomposition of behavioral rhythms into multiple independent oscillations.
• Clock protein oscillations in specific dorsal neuron subgroups are phase-shifted when LNVs are hyperexcitable.
• Regulated electrical activity of LNVs is associated with the synchronization of multiple oscillators in the circadian pacemaker circuit of flies.

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