Long-term neuron tracking reveals balance of stability and plasticity in functional properties.

Overview

1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States of America
2. Department of Neurophysiology, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira City, Tokyo, Japan
3. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States of America
4. Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States of America

Abstract

Neural stability is essential for executing learned motor behaviors while plasticity provides the flexibility needed to adapt to new tasks and environments. Although low-dimensional neural population dynamics exhibit long-term stability, the extent to which individual neurons retain their functional properties over time and balance the need for both stability and plasticity remains an open question. Tracking individual neurons across multiple recording sessions is crucial to addressing this question, yet conventional methods face challenges such as electrode drift, waveform variability, and large inter-electrode distances that limit the number of channels a neuron is observed on. Here, we introduce a waveform-based neuron tracking method optimized for standard microelectrode arrays, enabling the identification of the same neurons across sessions without relying on spatial overlap, a strategy commonly leveraged with high-density electrode arrays. We apply this method to assess the longitudinal stability of multiple neural properties, including firing rates, inter-spike intervals, tuning properties, and spike-field interactions. Our findings reveal that while spike waveform properties remain stable, certain functional properties such as ISI and tuning can exhibit gradual shifts, suggesting a balance between neural stability and plasticity. Understanding the persistence of individual neural signals provides insight into learning and adaptation while advancing the study of neural stability and plasticity over extended timescales. Beyond basic neuroscience, this framework has potential to enhance the long-term reliability of brain-machine interfaces and closed-loop deep brain stimulation systems that rely on chronic neural sensing.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Data

Datasets cited

• figshare:30904007 — at figshare; found in “Data Availability”

Data Availability

All neural and behavioral data underlying the findings are fully available without restriction via the following open access repository: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30904007.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

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Version 2, 28 September 2026

• Funding: added National Science Foundation: 2145412, CAREER; Whitehall Foundation: 2022-12-071

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 6 authors, 5 MeSH terms, 57 references.

Cite

This paper

Lu, H.-Y., Stealey, H. M., Zhao, Y., Barnett, C. R., Contreras-Hernandez, E., & Santacruz, S. R. (2026). Long-term neuron tracking reveals balance of stability and plasticity in functional properties. PloS one, 21(6), e0321830. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321830

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