{"id":31176,"date":"2026-10-07T18:56:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T15:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/?p=31176"},"modified":"2026-10-09T19:32:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T16:32:19","slug":"the-2026-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine-a-discovery-that-expands-the-possibilities-of-psychiatry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/en\/31176\/the-2026-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine-a-discovery-that-expands-the-possibilities-of-psychiatry\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: A Discovery That Expands the Possibilities of Psychiatry"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"31176\" class=\"elementor elementor-31176 elementor-31175\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-0cb20d2 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"0cb20d2\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-12abe16\" data-id=\"12abe16\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-67f23f6 elementor-align-right elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info\" data-id=\"67f23f6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"post-info.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-inline-items elementor-icon-list-items elementor-post-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-5d54bcb elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"datePublished\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/en\/date\/2026\/10\/07\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fas fa-calendar\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-date\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time>October 7, 2026<\/time>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-f8d5507 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"f8d5507\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-a9001e7\" data-id=\"a9001e7\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dbbbc29 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"dbbbc29\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"><strong>The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for discoveries that made it possible to control the activity of nerve cells using light. Optogenetics, developed on the basis of these discoveries, helps researchers investigate neural mechanisms associated with emotions, behavior, and mental disorders, opening up new possibilities for developing future therapeutic approaches.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-b94d053 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"b94d053\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-19be6ca\" data-id=\"19be6ca\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c37f08c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c37f08c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: var(--ast-global-color-5); color: var(--ast-global-color-3);\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-31179 size-medium alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nobel-2026_1-300x227.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"227\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nobel-2026_1-300x227.jpg 300w, https:\/\/eiphp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/nobel-2026_1.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The laureates are <strong>Karl Deisseroth<\/strong>, a psychiatrist and bioengineer at Stanford University, and German researchers <strong>Peter Hegemann<\/strong>, a biophysicist, and <strong>Georg Nagel<\/strong>, a specialist in molecular physiology. Their work brought together expertise from biophysics, molecular biology, genetics, neuroscience, and psychiatry.<\/p>\n<p>The discovery is based on light-sensitive proteins found in algae. These proteins respond to light by altering the movement of ions across the cell membrane. The researchers used these proteins to develop a way to activate or inhibit selected neurons using pulses of light. This led to the development of <strong>optogenetics<\/strong>, a method that enables researchers to investigate the activity of individual nerve cells and neural circuits in the living brain with high precision.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What does this mean for psychiatry?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mental disorders are associated with complex changes in brain function, rather than the activity of a single brain region or individual neuron. Optogenetics enables researchers to investigate how the activity of specific neural circuits affects behavior and emotional responses. This is important for studying the biological mechanisms underlying depression, addiction, autism, and other conditions, as well as for identifying potential therapeutic targets.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, optogenetics remains primarily a research tool. Its widespread use in the treatment of mental disorders will require further research. Nevertheless, the ability to selectively alter the activity of neural circuits helps researchers better understand how the brain functions and which mechanisms may be relevant to developing new treatments.<\/p>\n<p><em>Read more:<\/em> <a style=\"font-size: 16px; background-color: #ffffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/prizes\/medicine\/2026\/summary\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2026<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for discoveries that made it possible to control the activity of nerve cells using light. Optogenetics, developed on the basis of these discoveries, helps researchers investigate neural mechanisms associated with emotions, behavior, and mental disorders, opening up new possibilities for developing future therapeutic approaches. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31180,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31176"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31188,"href":"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31176\/revisions\/31188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eiphp.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}