To address this issue, we acutely activated these neurons with an MB-restricted version of the α’/β’ driver line c305a-GAL4 and the warmth-sensitive cation channel, dTrpA1. If DPM neurons act to excite α’/β’, as postulated by models of consolidation, we would expect this manipulation to increase sleep. Instead, we see a strong decrease in nighttime sleep. This α’/β’–dependent nighttime sleep loss remained stable throughout 48 hr of dTrpA1 activation and was accompanied by increasing daytime sleep loss which continued even after release from dTrpA1 activation. This unusual pattern exactly matches the phenotype seen in flies expressing Shits in DPM neurons.