Compared with those without tinnitus, animals with noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus showed an increased SFR of fusiform cells in the DCN with increased vulnerability of KCNQ2/3 and/or HCN channels (Li et al., 2015), and synchronous activity of neurons in the IC (increased wave V amplitude at suprathreshold levels), accompanied by a reduction in the levels of activity-regulated cytoskeletal proteins in the auditory cortex (Singer et al., 2013). Here, KCNQ2 is linked to Tinnitus.