biostudies-literatureLiu ZLeon Levy FoundationU.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | Office of Extramural Research, National Institutes of HealthResearch to Prevent BlindnessMcKnight Endowment Fund for NeuroscienceNIDCD NIH HHSBrain and Behavior Research FoundationAlfred P. Sloan Foundation5060https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9420129biostudies-literatureUnknown13(1)Motor circuits develop in sequence from those governing fast movements to those governing slow. Here we examine whether upstream sensory circuits are organized by similar principles. Using serial-section electron microscopy in larval zebrafish, we generated a complete map of the gravity-sensing (utricular) system spanning from the inner ear to the brainstem. We find that both sensory tuning and developmental sequence are organizing principles of vestibular topography. Patterned rostrocaudal innervation from hair cells to afferents creates an anatomically inferred directional tuning map in the utricular ganglion, forming segregated pathways for rostral and caudal tilt. Furthermore, the mediolateral axis of the ganglion is linked to both developmental sequence and neuronal temporal dynamics.Nature communicationsOrganization of the gravity-sensing system in zebrafish.PMC9420129EY030623R01 DC016413EY029313Hildebrand DGCLiu ZBagnall MWMorgan JLJia YSlimmon NfalseOrganization of the gravity-sensing system in zebrafish.Motor circuits develop in sequence from those governing fast movements to those governing slow. Here we examine whether upstream sensory circuits are organized by similar principles. Using serial-section electron microscopy in larval zebrafish, we generated a complete map of the gravity-sensing (utricular) system spanning from the inner ear to the brainstem. We find that both sensory tuning and developmental sequence are organizing principles of vestibular topography. Patterned rostrocaudal innervation from hair cells to afferents creates an anatomically inferred directional tuning map in the utricular ganglion, forming segregated pathways for rostral and caudal tilt. Furthermore, the mediolateral axis of the ganglion is linked to both developmental sequence and neuronal temporal dynamics.2022-01-01T00:00:00Z2022 Aug2025-04-18T19:06:45.736Z2025-04-07T06:47:54.537ZS-EPMC94201293603028010.1038/s41467-022-32824-w