Mutant flies have a normal circadian period and are rhythmic under conditions of constant darkness.

Homozygous and homer^R102/Df(2L)ED7007 flies show fragmentation of sleep compared to wild type. The average bout duration of sleep is significantly reduced in the mutant flies during both night and day periods. The total amount of sleep during the day is not significantly different from that of wild type, but is reduced at night in the mutant flies.

Mutant and wild-type flies show recovery sleep immediately following the end of sleep deprivation. The immediate response in the first 4 hours after the end of sleep deprivation is similar in both mutant and wild type. However, in the mutant flies, there is continued rebound sleep over the entire 24 hours after the end of sleep deprivation, while in the wild-type flies the recovery sleep is relatively short. The mutant flies show no increase in average sleep bout duration following 4 or 6 hours of sleep deprivation, but increase their sleep by increasing the number of sleep bouts. This contrasts with wild-type flies which show a significant increase in average sleep bout duration following 4 or 6 hours of sleep deprivation.

homer^R102 mutant male flies exposed to ethanol vapor (56%) for 50 minutes exhibit a mean onset of sedation approximately 5 minutes earlier than in control flies. Furthermore, a larger fraction of homer^R102 mutant flies compared with control flies are sedated at each subsequent time point. homer^R102 heterozygous flies display ethanol sensitivity that is indistinguishable from controls.

homer^R102 mutant male flies develop significantly less ethanol tolerance than controls. Whereas only 45% of homer^R102 flies develop rapid tolerance, 64% of controls do. homer^R102 heterozygous males display ethanol tolerance that is intermediate between wild-type and homer^R102 homozygous males.

homer^R102 mutants do not display differences to wild-type in ethanol absorption or metabolism.

Flies do not display obvious uncoordinated phenotype and can respond to visual stimuli, eliciting an escape response. No anatomical defects are evident and the nervous system morphology and development appears normal. Mutant males show behavioral plasticity deficits and fail to form and/or retain conditioning by the non-receptive mated female in courtship conditioning assays. Mutants do suppress courtship behavior during conditioning but show higher levels of courtship than wild type both before and after conditioning. Response to propionic acid (measured by chemosensory jump response) is similar to that of wild type, response to benzaldehyde is elevated, compared to wild type and mutant flies show a higher level of locomotor activity than wild type.