Research data · Brain technique
Optogenetics
From 2021 to 2025, 443 animal research papers mentioned optogenetics and at least one behavioral test.
That is 4.0 times the 112 papers of 2011 to 2015. Between the same two periods, all the animal research papers that mention any of the 90 tests we count grew more slowly, to 1.2 times as many.
The tests mentioned with optogenetics
Fear conditioning appears in 25% of these papers and in 6.2% of all 32,277 papers that mention a test. That makes it 4.0 times as common in this research. Each bar is one test, with how many of the 443 papers from 2021 to 2025 mention it, and what share that is. A paper that mentions two tests counts under both.
The 15 tests these papers mention most
All 59 tests these papers mention
| Test | Papers | Share of the 443 papers |
|---|---|---|
| Fear conditioning | 111 | 25% |
| Operant conditioning | 41 | 9% |
| Self-administration | 34 | 8% |
| Conditioned place preference | 33 | 7% |
| Open field | 31 | 7% |
| Elevated plus maze | 30 | 7% |
| Von Frey test | 21 | 5% |
| Self-grooming | 20 | 5% |
| Novel object recognition | 19 | 4% |
| Real-time place preference | 17 | 4% |
| Tail suspension test | 14 | 3% |
| Forced swim test | 13 | 3% |
| Active avoidance (shuttle box) | 12 | 3% |
| Looming stimulus | 11 | 2% |
| Morris water maze | 8 | 2% |
| Skilled reaching | 8 | 2% |
| Treadmill running | 8 | 2% |
| T-maze | 7 | 2% |
| Sucrose preference test | 7 | 2% |
| Rotational behavior (rotometer) | 7 | 2% |
| Prepulse inhibition and acoustic startle | 6 | 1% |
| Light-dark box | 6 | 1% |
| Three-chamber sociability test | 6 | 1% |
| Observational fear | 6 | 1% |
| Passive avoidance | 5 | 1% |
| Attentional set shifting | 5 | 1% |
| Elevated zero maze | 5 | 1% |
| Object location test | 5 | 1% |
| Social interaction test | 4 | 1% |
| Tube test for social dominance | 4 | 1% |
| Wheel running | 4 | 1% |
| Predator odor exposure | 4 | 1% |
| Barnes maze | 3 | 1% |
| Y-maze | 3 | 1% |
| Five-choice serial reaction time task | 3 | 1% |
| Acetone test | 3 | 1% |
| Marble burying | 3 | 1% |
| Formalin test | 3 | 1% |
| Catalepsy bar test | 3 | 1% |
| Touchscreen operant tasks | 2 | under 1% |
| Learned helplessness | 2 | under 1% |
| Olfactory tests | 2 | under 1% |
| Grip strength | 2 | under 1% |
| Rotarod | 2 | under 1% |
| Social approach and avoidance | 2 | under 1% |
| Cylinder test | 2 | under 1% |
| Hot plate | 2 | under 1% |
| Radial arm maze | 2 | under 1% |
| Hargreaves plantar test | 2 | under 1% |
| Novelty-suppressed feeding | 2 | under 1% |
| Nest building | 1 | under 1% |
| Beam walking | 1 | under 1% |
| Resident-intruder test | 1 | under 1% |
| Ladder rung walking | 1 | under 1% |
| Tail flick | 1 | under 1% |
| Writhing test | 1 | under 1% |
| Splash test | 1 | under 1% |
| Active place avoidance | 1 | under 1% |
| Cold plate | 1 | under 1% |
Tests named in 30 or more of these papers link to a page on that test with optogenetics. To count the papers that mention two or more tests together, use the test battery tool.
Papers by year
Animal research papers that mention optogenetics and a behavioral test, by year, 2001 to 2026
The 2026 bar counts papers added to PubMed by November 8, 2026.
- Papers in a full year
- 2026 so far
Show the counts for each year
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 0 |
| 2002 | 0 |
| 2003 | 0 |
| 2004 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 |
| 2006 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 |
| 2008 | 1 |
| 2009 | 0 |
| 2010 | 3 |
| 2011 | 5 |
| 2012 | 13 |
| 2013 | 28 |
| 2014 | 36 |
| 2015 | 30 |
| 2016 | 52 |
| 2017 | 61 |
| 2018 | 68 |
| 2019 | 58 |
| 2020 | 90 |
| 2021 | 106 |
| 2022 | 75 |
| 2023 | 88 |
| 2024 | 83 |
| 2025 | 91 |
| 2026 (part year) | 104 |
Papers that mention optogenetics and a test fell from 106 in 2021 to 75 in 2022, then rose to 91 in 2025. Part of this dip may come from PubMed's indexing rather than from fewer studies. We take a paper's species from PubMed's indexing when the indexing names one. Otherwise PubTator 3, NCBI's text-mining service, has to find a species in the title or abstract, or the paper is not counted. Papers that PubMed indexed under the subject heading Animals also fell and rose, from 200,221 in 2021 to 156,447 in 2023 and 235,479 in 2025.
Disease models in papers that mention optogenetics
Each bar is one disease model, with how many of the 443 papers from 2021 to 2025 are tagged with it, and what share that is. The model comes from the paper's MeSH terms, the subject headings the National Library of Medicine adds when it indexes a paper. A paper without MeSH terms gets its model from PubTator 3, NCBI's text-mining service, if PubTator 3 finds the disease in the title or abstract. A paper can count under more than one model.
Papers from 2021 to 2025 by disease model
Which species the papers used
Each bar is a share of the 443 papers from 2021 to 2025. A paper can use more than one species, so the shares can add to more than 100%.
Species
“Other animals” counts papers that use none of the species this chart names.
NIH funding
186 of the 443 papers (42%) had NIH funding. NINDS, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, funded the most, 80 of them. A paper counts as NIH-funded when its PubMed record lists an NIH grant, or when NIH RePORTER links it to an NIH project.
NIH-funded papers by institute
Each share is of the NIH-funded papers. A paper with grants from two institutes counts under both.
The most cited papers from 2021 to 2025
These papers from 2021 to 2025 mention optogenetics and a behavioral test and have the most citations, as counted by NIH's iCite on November 5, 2026.
Nat Commun, 2022. 192 citations.
Spontaneous behaviour is structured by reinforcement without explicit reward.
Nature, 2023. 148 citations.
Entorhinal cortex directs learning-related changes in CA1 representations.
Nature, 2022. 143 citations.
Neuronal circuitry for recognition memory of object and place in rodent models.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev, 2022. 135 citations.
Hippocampal astrocytes modulate anxiety-like behavior.
Nat Commun, 2022. 128 citations.
How we counted
A paper counts here when it is animal research and its title or abstract mentions optogenetics and at least one of the 90 behavioral tests. A count is a number of papers, not of experiments, labs or animals. A paper that mentions optogenetics only in its methods is missed, so the count runs low.
A paper is animal research when its MeSH terms name an animal species. If they name none, NCBI's text-mining service PubTator 3 has to find one in the title or abstract. Papers on animals other than mice, rats, zebrafish, flies and primates count only when they also mention a test. Many of them study people or use the same words for something else.
The search terms for optogenetics are in the download Animal models and brain techniques. The counts in the chart of tests are in Tests mentioned with each model or technique. The full method, with each source and its terms of use, is on our main page, Behavioral tests in published research.
More brain techniques
Each brain technique with 100 or more papers from 2021 to 2025 that mention a test has a page. These are the others, each with that count.
- Intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection 706 papers
- AAV vectors 546 papers
- Chemogenetics (DREADDs) 505 papers
- In vivo electrophysiology 335 papers
- Intranasal delivery 299 papers
- EEG and ECoG 265 papers
- Intrathecal injection 257 papers
- Fiber photometry 177 papers
- Transcranial stimulation 152 papers
- Microdialysis 133 papers
How to cite
APA
ConductScience. (2026, November 13). Behavioral tests with optogenetics [Data set]. https://conductscience.com/resources/data/brain-techniques/optogenetics
BibTeX
@misc{conductscience_optogenetics_2026,
author = {{ConductScience}},
title = {Behavioral tests with optogenetics},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
url = {https://conductscience.com/resources/data/brain-techniques/optogenetics},
note = {Data set, released November 13, 2026},
}Equipment in our store
For studies with optogenetics, our store sells:
- Optogenetics systems and kits
- Optogenetics and photometry
- Stereotaxic systems
- Microinjection and infusion
Apparatus for the tests
Our store sells apparatus for nine of the 10 tests these papers mention most, all but self-grooming.
