The award recognizes the work of three scientists on how individual neural activity functions. NPR describes the research as a study of the mechanisms by which the brain can switch the activity of individual nerve cells on or off.
According to The Guardian, the citation concerns discoveries involving light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. This is the specific description of the award-winning work reported by the British newspaper.
The three winners come from different institutions. According to The Guardian, Karl Deisseroth is affiliated with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University, Peter Hegemann with Humboldt University of Berlin, and Georg Nagel with the University of Würzburg.
The choice therefore brings together three researchers identified by the sources as working in the same field of study, but with different academic and scientific affiliations. The common thread remains the investigation of nerve-cell activity, as described by NPR and The Guardian.
The Guardian also reports that the three recipients will share an award worth 12 million Swedish kronor. The British newspaper reports this financial figure as information about the recognition.
The available information therefore confirms the awarding of the Nobel Prize to the three scientists and describes the field of the recognized research; details about the specific citation, affiliations and prize amount are reported by the sources that published them.