Development of a method for evaluation of ageing in cerebral neuronal circuit using circadian rhythm as a gauge

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The goal of this study was to establish a method to evaluate ageing of cerebral neuronal circuits using overt circadian rhythms as a gauge in Drosophila. Behavioral and molecular analyses revealed that age dependent retardation of a neuropeptide, pigment-dispersing factor (PDF), expression in the dorsal terminal of PDF immunoreactive cerebral clock neurons correlated with the ageing of behavioral rhythms. Overexpression of the peptide strengthened not only the activity rhythm but also molecular oscillation of clock genes even in old flies. Thus measuring the behavioral rhythms may be sufficient to evaluate ageing of the underlying neuronal circuit.