BCIwiki (bciwiki.com) — A brain-computer interface (BCI) driven by real-time calcium imaging can follow the same neurons in freely moving mice across multiple days without retraining, researchers at the Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, reported in Journal of Neuroscience Methods on June 22, 2026.
The system, called BAMBI (BCI Applying Mini-microscopes and Behavioral Imaging), uses mini-microscopes to record calcium signals from neurons and delivers feedback based on that activity. The authors note that most BCIs rely on electrophysiological techniques, which have limited ability to track the same neuronal populations over long periods.
By keeping the same field of view aligned across sessions, BAMBI reliably tracked the same neurons over multiple days, according to the paper. The team validated it with distinct behavioral paradigms in head-fixed and freely moving conditions and showed that mice could reliably modulate specific hippocampal neurons to obtain rewards over multiple days.
The authors say earlier calcium-imaging BCIs were largely limited to head-fixed animals or lacked in vivo proof of concept, and had not shown stable performance across days. They describe the approach as a tool for longitudinal studies of neuronal population dynamics. The paper's DOI is 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2026.110832; PMID 42331292.