Nobel Prize awarded for showing how nerve cells shape feelings

What the report says

US psychiatrist and neurologist Karl Deisseroth, along with German scientists Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel, has won this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work that helped establish optogenetics, according to BBC World News. The award recognizes research that uses light-sensitive proteins to control the electrical activity of cells, a technique that has given scientists new ways to study the brain.

The Nobel Committee said the trio’s work laid the groundwork for a new phase in neuroscience by helping reveal neural circuits connected to memories, feelings and behaviours. BBC reported that the method has been especially useful for understanding how the brain is organized and how it may contribute to neurological and psychiatric disorders. The winners were quoted by the broadcaster as saying they felt honoured by the recognition.

BBC also noted that optogenetics is being explored in clinical research, including efforts to restore sight in people with visual impairment. The approach builds on discoveries made in the early 2000s, when Hegemann and Nagel identified channelrhodopsin, a protein from algae that became central to the field. The prize money will be shared by the three laureates, and the award underlines the growing importance of tools that can map and manipulate brain activity.