A bibliometric profile of optogenetics: quantitative and qualitative analyses

INTRODUCTION: Optogenetics is a rapidly developing field combining optics and genetics, with promising applications in neuroscience and beyond. However, there is currently a lack of bibliometric analyses examining publications in this area. METHOD: Publications on optogenetics were gathered from the Web of Science Core Collection Database. A quantitative analysis was conducted to gain insights into the annual scientific output, and distribution of authors, journals, subject categories, countries, and institutions. Additionally, qualitative analysis, such as co-occurrence network analysis, thematic analysis, and theme evolution, were performed to identify the main areas and trends of optogenetics articles. RESULTS: A total of 6,824 publications were included for analysis. The number of articles has rapidly grown since 2010, with an annual growth rate of 52.82%. Deisseroth K, Boyden ES, and Hegemann P were the most prolific contributors to the field. The United States contributed the most articles (3,051 articles), followed by China (623 articles). A majority of optogenetics-related articles are published in high-quality journals, including NATURE, SCIENCE, and CELL. These articles mainly belong to four subjects: neurosciences, biochemistry and molecular biology, neuroimaging, and materials science. Co-occurrence keyword network analysis identified three clusters: optogenetic components and techniques, optogenetics and neural circuitry, optogenetics and disease. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that optogenetics research is flourishing, focusing on optogenetic techniques and their applications in neural circuitry exploration and disease intervention. Optogenetics is expected to remain a hot topic in various fields in the future.