Nobel Prize in medicine awarded to trio for technique that helps decode mysteries of the brain

The 2026 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to three scientists – Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel – for their work developing a technique to decode the inner workings of the brain.

This method – known as optogenetics – acts as a “light-sensitive switch,” allowing scientists to “map which cells are responsible for which function” in the brain, said Anna Wedell, a member of the Nobel Prize committee, which announced the prestigious honor in Sweden on Monday.

German researchers Hegemann, 71, and Nagel, 73, discovered a protein in algae, known as channelrhodopsin, before American scientist Deisseroth, 54, “transformed the protein into a light-controlled switch for nerve cells,” the committee said in a statement. That work has “laid the foundation for a new era in neuroscience,” the committee added.

By using this method, researchers can identify and even control the neural circuits that govern “specific memories, feelings, and behaviors relevant for neurological and psychiatric disorders.”

All three laureates were “very surprised” when they learned of their prize shortly before the public announcement, said the committee’s secretary-general Thomas Perlmann.

“Karl Deisseroth was very tired when he answered, he was definitely asleep, but he woke up … All three said the same thing, that they thought it was absolutely wonderful to receive the prize with the other two,” Perlmann noted when announcing the prize.

The award highlights the “profound impact of a field that has fundamentally changed how scientists understand the brain and nervous system,” said David Pendlebury, head of research analysis at Clarivate’s Institute for Scientific Information, in a statement.

“The Nobel Committee’s recognition underscores the extraordinary influence of this work, which has transformed neuroscience by enabling researchers to use light to precisely control and study neural activity,” Pendlebury added.