After prolonged noise exposure, we lose our hearing ability, which is often temporary and typically recovers (resilience). Previously, we established the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria, as a model for auditory recovery after noise exposure. In this work we wished to track the rate of short-term recovery after noise exposure. In order to do this, we conducted over 600 independent measurements of auditory system function after noise exposure and quantified both the transduction current from individual auditory neurons and spiking responses from the auditory nerve. For the sound-evoked nerve response we find a rapid increase in recovery over the first 8 hours, followed by a more gradual recovery over the next 20 hours. For the transduction current we find a more steady recovery after noise exposure. We wanted to understand the genetic basis of this recovery. Therefore, we extracted RNA from auditory Müller’s organ to identify transcriptomic changes responsible.

Previously, we established the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria, as a model for auditory robustness and resilience. We found differences in resilience when comparing young and aged locusts. Regardless of age, the sound-evoked auditory nerve response recovers completely in young and aged locusts, however, the sound-evoked transduction current does not recover in aged locusts. We thus identify a potential plastic mechanism that compensates for a noise-induced decrease in transduction current in aged locusts. We then examine the auditory resilience of the locust ear in higher resolution, at the level of both the sound-evoked auditory nerve response and transcriptomic changes over the first 28 hours after noise exposure. We find a rapid increase in recovery over the first 8 hours following noise exposure, followed by a more gradual recovery over the following 20 hours. Our high-resolution transcriptomic results offer insight into the fundamental mechanisms of auditory recovery.