Three scientists win Nobel Prize in Medicine for discoveries on brain activity

This year's Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to three scientists for their research into how the brain controls the activity of nerve cells.

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel were recognized for their work on light-activated ion channels and the development of optogenetics, a method that enables the control of nerve cell activity through light.

Deisseroth, 54, works at Stanford University in California. Hegemann, 71, is a professor at Humboldt University in Berlin, while Nagel, 73, works at the University of Wurzburg in Germany, the AP reports.

The Nobel Committee praised the importance of their work, noting that this method is already being used in laboratories around the world to more closely study brain function.

The Secretary of the Medical Committee, Thomas Perlmann, said he had managed to contact all three winners by phone immediately after the award was announced.

The award was announced at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, marking the start of Nobel Prize week.

The winners will share a prize of 12 million Swedish kronor, about $1.2 million.

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After the Medicine Prize, the Nobel Prize in Physics will be announced on Tuesday, Chemistry on Wednesday, and Literature on Thursday.

The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, while the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences will be announced on October 12.