OSCR

KIASORT: Knowledge-Integrated Automated Spike Sorting for Geometry-Free Neuron Tracking.

Overview

Authors: Kianoush Banaie Boroujeni1, Thilo Womelsdorf2, Sabine Kastner1,3
  1. Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544
  2. Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37212
  3. Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544
Institutions: Princeton University (United States); Vanderbilt University (United States)
Dates: received 21 August 2025; accepted 31 May 2026; published online 5 June 2026; in print 8 July 2026
Type: Research article · Language: English
License: CC BY
Identifiers: DOI 10.1523/jneurosci.1594-25.2026 · PMID 42248684 · PMCID PMC13322612 · OpenAlex W4412968257
Open access: hybrid, a free copy (OpenAlex)
Status: code verified
Categories: extracellular electrophysiology (units, LFP) (modality), mouse (organism), non-human primate (organism), methods / tools (subfield)
Methods: Spectral & time-frequency, Statistics, Smoothing, state filtering, decompositions, Machine learning, Preprocessing, Evoked potentials, Single-unit activity, calcium imaging, Connectivity, fMRI & imaging
Keywords: flexible probes, large-scale neural data analysis, Neuropixels, nonhuman primate neurophysiology, spike sorting
MeSH: Action Potentials*, Neurons*, Software*, Algorithms, Animals, Mice, Models, Neurological (* major topic)
Topic: Cell Image Analysis Techniques (Biophysics, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology), according to OpenAlex
Funding: NEI NIH HHS (R01 EY017699); NIMH NIH HHS (R01 MH123687, P50 MH132642, R01 MH137624); HHS | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH123687); C.V. Starr Foundation
Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 39 references in the paper

Abstract

Modern high-density neural recordings demand spike-sorting algorithms that can handle diverse probe geometries and complex, neuron-specific drift, yet existing methods often rely on rigid geometric assumptions and one-dimensional drift models. Here, we introduce KIASORT (Knowledge-Integrated Automated Spike Sorting), a geometry-free approach for per-neuron drift tracking. KIASORT builds channel-specific sorting models from a hybrid linear–nonlinear sample-sorting stage, using representative template banks or supervised classifiers. These channel-specific models then sort spikes by independently tracking each neuron, unconstrained by probe layout. Biophysical simulations showed that even submicron probe displacements induce neuron-specific waveform distortions that standard drift models cannot correct. In ground-truth benchmarks with heterogeneous, neuron-specific drift, KIASORT outperformed Kilosort4 in recovering high-quality units while maintaining real-time performance on standard CPUs. Its robustness was further illustrated on both primate and mouse data. KIASORT combines automated sorting with manual curation in a unified graphical interface, offering a complete and user-friendly spike-sorting platform. The software is freely available at https://kiasort.com.

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

Code

No file of the authors' code could be read here: it is described below, and read at its source.

kiasort.com

License: none: the authors keep all their rights
State: the link answers, verified on 27 September 2026
Evidence: the link answers
Software Heritage: not checked
Found in: “Data availability”
Not found: README, license file, CITATION.cff, environment file, tests, continuous integration, documentation
Availability: 1 check, the latest on 27 September 2026: the link answers (HTTP 200)
  • 27 September 2026: the link answers (HTTP 200)
At the source: kiasort.com

The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.

Tracing map

Proposed by the machine: these links were found in the paper and verified at the source, without human review. The map will receive a Zenodo DOI once one of the paper's authors has validated it with their ORCID.

What the map holds:

  • 1 repository of the authors' code, each at its verified commit, with its license and how the link was found in the paper;
  • 0 scripts, each with its path and the digest of its content;
  • no match between paragraphs and code yet;
  • neither the text of the paper nor the code itself.

Its JSON (tracing-map.json) is deposited on Zenodo with its DOI once the map is validated.

Data

No dataset and no data link were found in the paper.

Data availability

The whole pipeline and code for KIASORT is available from https://kiasort.com.

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

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 3 authors, 5 keywords, 7 MeSH terms, 4 funders, 35 references.

Cite

This paper

Boroujeni, K. B., Womelsdorf, T., & Kastner, S. (2026). KIASORT: Knowledge-Integrated Automated Spike Sorting for Geometry-Free Neuron Tracking. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 46(27), e1594252026. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.1594-25.2026

BibTeX

@article{boroujeni2026kiasort,
author = {Boroujeni, Kianoush Banaie and Womelsdorf, Thilo and Kastner, Sabine},
title = {{KIASORT: Knowledge-Integrated Automated Spike Sorting for Geometry-Free Neuron Tracking}},
journal = {The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
volume = {46},
number = {27},
pages = {e1594252026},
publisher = {Society for Neuroscience},
issn = {0270-6474},
doi = {10.1523/jneurosci.1594-25.2026},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.1594-25.2026},
pmid = {42248684},
pmcid = {PMC13322612}
}

RIS

TY - JOUR
AU - Boroujeni, Kianoush Banaie
AU - Womelsdorf, Thilo
AU - Kastner, Sabine
TI - KIASORT: Knowledge-Integrated Automated Spike Sorting for Geometry-Free Neuron Tracking
T2 - The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
J2 - J Neurosci
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/08
VL - 46
IS - 27
SP - e1594252026
SN - 0270-6474
PB - Society for Neuroscience
DO - 10.1523/jneurosci.1594-25.2026
UR - https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.1594-25.2026
LA - en
ER -

CSL-JSON

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The tracing map gets a citation of its own once an author has validated it and it has a DOI.

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