Preservation of developmental spontaneous activity enables early auditory system maturation in deaf mice

Intrinsically generated neural activity propagates through the developing auditory system to promote maturation and refinement of sound processing circuits prior to hearing onset. This early patterned activity is induced by non-sensory supporting cells in the organ of Corti, which are highly interconnected through gap junctions containing connexin 26 (Gjb2). Although loss of function mutations in Gjb2 impair cochlear development and are the most common cause of congenital deafness, it is not known if these variants disrupt spontaneous activity and the developmental trajectory of sound processing circuits in the brain. Here, we show in a new mouse model of Gjb2-mediated congenital deafness that cochlear supporting cells adjacent to inner hair cells (IHCs) unexpectedly retain intercellular coupling and the capacity to generate spontaneous activity, exhibiting only modest deficits prior to hearing onset. Supporting cells lacking Gjb2 elicited coordinated activation of IHCs, leading to coincident bursts of activity in central auditory neurons that will later process similar frequencies of sound. Despite alterations in the structure of the sensory epithelium, hair cells within the cochlea of Gjb2-deficient mice were intact and central auditory neurons could be activated within appropriate tonotopic domains by loud sounds at hearing onset, indicating that early maturation and refinement of auditory circuits was preserved. Only after cessation of spontaneous activity following hearing onset did progressive hair cell degeneration and enhanced auditory neuron excitability manifest. This preservation of cochlear spontaneous neural activity in the absence of connexin 26 may increase the effectiveness of early therapeutic interventions to restore hearing.