LAUSR

Significance Spiral Ganglion neurons (SGNs) are responsible for relaying complex sound information from the cochlea to the auditory brainstem, and their loss contributes to age-related and acquired hearing loss. Physiological, anatomical, and molecular approaches have identified four different subtypes of SGNs in the adult cochlea. However, when and how these subtypes become specified developmentally is unknown. Using single-cell RNA-Seq, we characterized the timing and order of SGN subtype specification. We further identified transcription factors that potentially regulate downstream genes and are differentially expressed by SGNs as they split into specific subtypes. This work contributes a comprehensive data set and analysis of gene expression across SGN development that will be an outstanding resource for studies of development, regeneration, and neuronal function.