Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Is Awarded for Discoveries in Neuroscience NYT: Science By: Carolyn Y. Johnson and Leo Sands 5 October 2026 at 17:09 Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel were recognized for their work on light-gated ion channels and optogenetics, a technique that uses pulses of light to activate neurons in the brain. Β© Jonathan Nackstrand/Agence France-Presse β Getty ImagesThomas Perlmann, the secretary general of the Nobel Committee, speaking at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm on Monday.