An AI Agent for cell-type specific brain computer interfaces.
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Abstract | Decoding how specific neuronal subtypes contribute to brain function requires linking extracellular electrophysiological features to underlying molecular identities, yet reliable electrophysiological signal classification remains a major challenge for neuroscience and clinical brain-computer interfaces (BCI). Here, we show that pretrained, general-purpose vision-language models (VLMs) can be repurposed as few-shot learners to classify neuronal cell types directly from electrophysiological features, without task-specific fine-tuning. Validated against optogenetically tagged datasets, this approach enables robust and generalizable subtype inference with minimal supervision. Building on this capability, we developed the BCI AI Agent (BCI-Agent), an autonomous AI framework that integrates vision-based cell-type inference, stable neuron tracking, and automated molecular atlas validation with real-time literature synthesis. BCI-Agent addresses three critical challenges for electrophysiology: (1) accurate, training-free cell-type classification; (2) automated cross-validation of predictions using molecular atlas references and peer-reviewed literature; and (3) embedding molecular identities within stable, low-dimensional neural manifolds for dynamic decoding. In rodent motor-learning tasks, BCI-Agent revealed stable, cell-type-specific neural trajectories across time that uncover previously inaccessible dimensions of neural computation. Additionally, when applied to human Neuropixels recordings-where direct ground-truth labeling is inherently unavailable-BCI-Agent inferred neuronal subtypes and validated them through integration with human single-cell atlases and literature. By enabling scalable, cell-type-specific inference of electrophysiology, BCI-Agent provides a new approach for dissecting the contributions of distinct neuronal populations to brain function and dysfunction. |
Year of Publication | 2025
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Journal | bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
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Date Published | 09/2025
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ISSN | 2692-8205
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DOI | 10.1101/2025.09.11.675660
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PubMed ID | 41000855
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