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Topic · Biological Psychiatry

Tryptophan and brain disorders

Tryptophan and brain disorders is a research topic within Biological Psychiatry. Science Explorer counts 44k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the intricate relationship between the immune system and the brain, focusing on neuroinflammation, cytokine signaling, and the impact of immune activation on psychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. The role of tryptophan metabolism, oxidative stress, and maternal immune activation in influencing brain function and behavior is also a key area of investigation.

  • Neuroinflammation
  • Cytokines
  • Depression
  • Tryptophan Metabolism
  • Immune Activation
  • Schizophrenia
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Microglia
  • Maternal Immune Activation
  • Antidepressant Treatment
Research works
44k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
4.4k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+32%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
40% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Tryptophan and brain disorders

Which countries lead Tryptophan and brain disorders research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (3.9k and 2.5k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 3.9k works
  2. 2 United States 2.5k works
  3. 3 India 553 works
  4. 4 Italy 420 works
  5. 5 Germany 411 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 392 works
  7. 7 Japan 383 works
  8. 8 Russia 368 works
  9. 9 Canada 330 works
  10. 10 Brazil 302 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.

China: 40.4%United States: 26.5%India: 5.8%Italy: 4.4%6 others listed: 22.9%40%largest
China3,862 · 40.4%United States2,528 · 26.5%India553 · 5.8%Italy420 · 4.4%6 others listed2,187 · 22.9%

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

Which institutions lead Tryptophan and brain disorders research?

By volume in 2022-now, Russian Academy of Sciences publishes the most Tryptophan and brain disorders research, followed by Harvard University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 129 works
  2. 2 Harvard UniversityUnited States 119 works
  3. 3 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 80 works
  4. 4 University of TorontoCanada 77 works
  5. 5 Capital Medical UniversityChina 72 works
  6. 6 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 72 works
  7. 7 Sichuan UniversityChina 71 works
  8. 8 Nanjing Medical UniversityChina 65 works
  9. 9 Zhejiang UniversityChina 64 works
  10. 10 Central South UniversityChina 63 works

Who are the leading researchers in Tryptophan and brain disorders?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Tryptophan and brain disorders include Zhong Lin Wang, Rob Knight and George Davey Smith.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 Rob Knight United States 468k citations
  3. 3 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  4. 4 Walter Churchill Willett United States 411k citations
  5. 5 Mark J. Daly United States 403k citations
  6. 6 Peer Bork Germany 396k citations
  7. 7 Julian P. T. Higgins United Kingdom 390k citations
  8. 8 Guido Kroemer France 386k citations
  9. 9 Ronald C. Kessler United States 360k citations
  10. 10 Shizuo Akira Japan 342k 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 Tryptophan and brain disorders?

The most cited paper in Tryptophan and brain disorders is "The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for Schizophrenia" (Stanley R. Kay, Abraham Fiszbein, Lewis A. Opler, 1987), with 21,651 citations. Next come "Structure, function and diversity of the healthy human microbiome" (12,195) and "Molecular Mechanisms of Depression: Perspectives on New Treatment Strategies" (8,499).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for Schizophrenia Stanley R. Kay, Abraham Fiszbein, Lewis A. Opler · Schizophrenia Bulletin Open access 1987 21,651
2 Structure, function and diversity of the healthy human microbiome Curtis Huttenhower et al. · Nature Open access248 authors Jun 2012 12,195
3 Molecular Mechanisms of Depression: Perspectives on New Treatment Strategies Undine Emmi Lang, Stefan Borgwardt · Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry Open access 2013 8,499
4 Biological insights from 108 schizophrenia-associated genetic loci Stephan Ripke et al. · Nature Open access297 authors Jul 2014 8,181
5 From inflammation to sickness and depression: when the immune system subjugates the brain Robert Dantzer, Jason C. O’Connor, Gregory G. Freund et al. · Nature reviews. Neuroscience ReviewOpen access 12 Dec 2007 7,434
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Tryptophan and brain disorders research done?

The largest centres of Tryptophan and brain disorders research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Guangzhou (China), Shanghai (China) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Cork.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 465 works
  2. 2 GuangzhouChina 249 works
  3. 3 ShanghaiChina 242 works
  4. 4 MoscowRussia 171 works
  5. 5 NanjingChina 165 works
  6. 6 LondonUnited Kingdom 151 works
  7. 7 ChengduChina 150 works
  8. 8 WuhanChina 148 works
  9. 9 HangzhouChina 147 works
  10. 10 ChangshaChina 136 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. CorkIE · 29.7 works6.1×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Tryptophan and brain disorders than the world average.

See Tryptophan and brain disorders on the map

Where is the best place to study Tryptophan and brain disorders?

Among universities, judged by research, Harvard University, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Hunan Agricultural 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 17.87%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Hunan Agricultural U…Chengdu University o…Nanchang UniversityHarvard 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
1Harvard UniversityUnited States 71.913.8%3.2×119 +15.6%
2Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 65.122.4%10.5×31 +333.4%
3Hunan Agricultural UniversityChina 62.424.7%7.3×13 +137.3%
4Nanchang UniversityChina 61.521.6%3.5×30 +172.5%
5Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyChina 59.618.6%2.2×46 +64.4%
6Chongqing Medical UniversityChina 59.312.0%9.4×61 +81.5%
7Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 58.913.1%2.4×80 +44.5%
8Capital Medical UniversityChina 58.811.8%5.8×72 +108.4%
9Nanjing Medical UniversityChina 58.410.9%6.3×65 +100.2%
10China Agricultural UniversityChina 58.029.8%1.5×10 +179.7%

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 Tryptophan and brain disorders, country by country

Is Tryptophan and brain disorders research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 32% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Tryptophan and brain disorders.

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 Tryptophan and brain disorders as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.054% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Tryptophan and brain disorders0.058% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Tryptophan and brain disorders 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%Tryptophan and brain disorders9.8% 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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