Fast-spiking GABA circuit dynamics in the auditory cortex predict recovery of sensory processing following peripheral nerve damage.

Summary

Tracking individual auditory-cortex neurons across ~50 days around moderate or massive auditory-nerve damage in mice, recovery of sound processing was predicted not by brainstem-evoked potentials but by early homeostatic adjustments in inhibition from parvalbumin (PV) interneurons. Self-regulated PV inhibitory dynamics in the first days after injury forecast eventual cortical recovery weeks later.

Key findings

• Recovery of cortical sound processing tracks PV-interneuron (fast-spiking) inhibitory dynamics, not brainstem-evoked potentials.
• Homeostatic PV inhibition changes in the first days post-injury predict recovery weeks later.
• Implicates self-regulated inhibitory (PV) circuits as central to restoring sensory processing after peripheral injury.