Controlling the brain with light earns a physiology Nobel

What happened

The entire field of optogenetics traces back to light-seeking algae. It would be far more informative to activate and shut down the neurons in an otherwise intact brain.

Over decades of research, scientists have built up a partial picture of what specialized cells within the brain and spinal cord do. The brain is flexible enough to potentially adapt to the loss of some cells, and their loss early in development may alter the development of any neurons they would have normally formed connections with.