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Topic · Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Photoreceptor and optogenetics research

Photoreceptor and optogenetics research is a research topic within Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience. Science Explorer counts 62k research works in it since 1950. 9.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the application of optogenetics in neuroscience and biophysics research, particularly the use of microbial rhodopsins such as Channelrhodopsin for precise control and manipulation of neural activity. It covers topics such as neural stimulation, photocycle dynamics, and in vivo control of neural circuitry using light-sensitive proteins. The research also explores the molecular mechanisms and biophysical principles underlying optogenetic tools.

  • Optogenetics
  • Channelrhodopsin
  • Neural Control
  • Microbial Rhodopsins
  • Neuronal Stimulation
  • Photocycle Dynamics
  • Neural Circuitry
  • Proton Pump
  • Sensory Rhodopsin
  • In Vivo Control
Research works
62k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
6.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-1%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
29% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Photoreceptor and optogenetics research

Which countries lead Photoreceptor and optogenetics research research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (1.7k and 1.6k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 1.7k works
  2. 2 China 1.6k works
  3. 3 Germany 530 works
  4. 4 Japan 520 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 298 works
  6. 6 India 282 works
  7. 7 France 274 works
  8. 8 Russia 273 works
  9. 9 Italy 236 works
  10. 10 South Korea 222 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 28.9%China: 26.9%Germany: 8.9%Japan: 8.7%6 others listed: 26.6%29%largest
United States1,725 · 28.9%China1,601 · 26.9%Germany530 · 8.9%Japan520 · 8.7%6 others listed1,585 · 26.6%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Photoreceptor and optogenetics research research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Photoreceptor and optogenetics research research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Russian Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 142 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 129 works
  3. 3 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 109 works
  4. 4 Max Planck SocietyGermany 46 works
  5. 5 Harvard UniversityUnited States 46 works
  6. 6 The University of TokyoJapan 43 works
  7. 7 National Institutes of HealthUnited States 39 works
  8. 8 Stanford UniversityUnited States 38 works
  9. 9 Zhejiang UniversityChina 36 works
  10. 10 Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityRussia 35 works

Who are the leading researchers in Photoreceptor and optogenetics research?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Photoreceptor and optogenetics research include Zhong Lin Wang, Michaël Grätzel and Jun Wang.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 Michaël Grätzel Switzerland 458k citations
  3. 3 Jun Wang China 340k citations
  4. 4 Karl John Friston United Kingdom 310k citations
  5. 5 Róbert Langer United States 303k citations
  6. 6 George M. Whitesides United States 267k citations
  7. 7 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  8. 8 Yi Ping Cui United States 261k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Photoreceptor and optogenetics research?

The most cited paper in Photoreceptor and optogenetics research is "Hydrogen Peroxide is Scavenged by Ascorbate-specific Peroxidase in Spinach Chloroplasts" (Yoshiyuki Nakano, Kozi Asada, 1981), with 10,779 citations. Next come "Deviations from michaelis-menten behaviour of plant glutamate dehydrogenase with ammonium as variable substrate" (10,703) and "A robust and high-throughput Cre reporting and characterization system for the whole mouse brain" (7,606).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Hydrogen Peroxide is Scavenged by Ascorbate-specific Peroxidase in Spinach Chloroplasts Yoshiyuki Nakano, Kozi Asada · Plant and Cell Physiology Aug 1981 10,779
2 Deviations from michaelis-menten behaviour of plant glutamate dehydrogenase with ammonium as variable substrate Edwin Pahlich, Chr. Gerlitz · Phytochemistry 1980 10,703
3 A robust and high-throughput Cre reporting and characterization system for the whole mouse brain Linda Madisen, Theresa A. Zwingman, Susan M. Sunkin et al. · Nature Neuroscience Open access 20 Dec 2009 7,606
4 Ultrasensitive fluorescent proteins for imaging neuronal activity Tsai‐Wen Chen, Trevor J. Wardill, Yi Sun et al. · Nature Open access 16 Jul 2013 7,242
5 Crystal Structure of Rhodopsin: A G Protein-Coupled Receptor Krzysztof Palczewski, Takashi Kumasaka, Tetsuya Hori et al. · Science 4 Aug 2000 5,661
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Photoreceptor and optogenetics research research done?

The largest centres of Photoreceptor and optogenetics research research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Tokyo (Japan) and Paris (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Göttingen and Genoa.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 308 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 174 works
  3. 3 TokyoJapan 135 works
  4. 4 ParisFrance 129 works
  5. 5 MoscowRussia 128 works
  6. 6 SeoulSouth Korea 107 works
  7. 7 HangzhouChina 87 works
  8. 8 New YorkUnited States 81 works
  9. 9 LondonUnited Kingdom 80 works
  10. 10 NanjingChina 78 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. GöttingenDE · 22.7 works6.8×
  2. GenoaIT · 27.5 works6.7×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Photoreceptor and optogenetics research than the world average.

See Photoreceptor and optogenetics research on the map

Where is the best place to study Photoreceptor and optogenetics research?

Among universities, judged by research, Northeast Normal University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Stanford University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 19.95%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Northeast Normal Uni…Stanford UniversityUniversity of Chines…Harvard University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Northeast Normal UniversityChina 67.041.7%8.6×12 +102.9%
2University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 61.420.5%3.2×33 +50.4%
3Stanford UniversityUnited States 59.220.9%4.0×38 -29.9%
4Harvard UniversityUnited States 56.514.4%2.2×46 -30.1%
5Fudan UniversityChina 56.421.0%3.1×31 +29.1%
6Zhejiang UniversityChina 55.115.4%2.1×36 +48.8%
7Peking UniversityChina 53.114.0%2.5×33 +31.3%
8East China University of Science and TechnologyChina 52.022.9%5.2×16 +38.8%
9University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 51.920.4%3.2×29 -14.2%
10Washington University in St. LouisUnited States 51.38.3%5.6×26 +23.9%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Photoreceptor and optogenetics research, country by country

Is Photoreceptor and optogenetics research research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 1% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2021.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Photoreceptor and optogenetics research as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.034% in 2024.

still counting0.10%0.20%Photoreceptor and optogenetics research0.029% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Photoreceptor and optogenetics research over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Photoreceptor and optogenetics research10.2% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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