How do we do this? We mainly study the pacemaker “clock” neurons that control circadian (~24 hour) rhythms of locomotor activity in Drosophila fruit flies. These are among the best-studied neurons in any system. And these clock neurons have daily rhythms in two fundamental properties of neurons: they change their excitability and their structure and synaptic connections with a 24 hour rhythm. In particular, the predictability of these structural changes makes clock neurons ideal to understand the molecular basis of neuronal plasticity.

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