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The brain is unbelievably complicated, which is both daunting and fascinating for neuroscientists like me. In the space of a cubic millimeter—about the size of a single poppy seed—there are tens of thousands of neurons and other brain support cells, all influencing each other's function.

How do neuroscientists make sense of this complexity? And how did they get to the point where they could simply shine different colors of light on the brain to control neuron activity?

The answer is one step at a time, with a lot of help from technology.

Revisiting some of the technological advances that have supported researchers' current understanding of how the brain works can point to where the field of neuroscience might be going next. There is a rough pattern to the technological advances that have led neuroscience to the present day: visualize the brain, measure its function and then control it.

Using light to influence neuronal function, known as optogenetics, allows neuroscientists to manipulate what neurons do millisecond by millisecond. The researchers whose work led to this technique won the 2026 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.

The level of control afforded by optogenetics suggests that the ability to therapeutically adjust brain activity in ways that previously sounded like fantasy could be on the horizon, including restoring eyesight , reducing pain and treating diseases like epilepsy and mental health disorders.

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