Medicine Nobel 2026: using light to explore the brain
Deisseroth, Hegemann and Nagel receive the award for optogenetics, a method revealing the role of neural circuits.
The 2026 medicine Nobel honours Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for optogenetics, Karolinska Institutet announced on 5 October.
Hegemann and Nagel identified a light-sensitive protein in an alga. Deisseroth used it to trigger signals in nerve cells.
The method allows researchers to test the role of specific circuits in memory or behaviour. It helps distinguish an observed association from a causal relationship.
Clinical research also attempts to restore vision. The award recognises a scientific advance; it does not announce an immediately available treatment for every neurological disease.