Sensation is Dispensable for the Maturation of the Vestibulo-ocular Reflex

Vertebrates stabilize gaze using a neural circuit that transforms sensed instability into compensatory counter-rotation of the eyes. Sensory feedback tunes this vestibulo-ocular reflex throughout life. Gaze stabilization matures progressively, either due to similar tuning, or to a slowly developing circuit component. Here we studied the functional development of vestibulo-ocular reflex circuit components in the larval zebrafish, with and without sensation. Blind fish stabilize gaze normally, and neural responses to body tilts mature before behavior. Instead, synapses between motor neurons and the eye muscles mature with a timecourse similar to behavioral maturation. Larvae without vestibular sensory experience, but whose neuromuscular junction was mature, had a strong vestibulo-ocular reflex. Development of the neuromuscular junction, and not sensory experience, determines the rate of maturation of an ancient behavior.