Credit: Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty
Neuroscience — which encompasses brain-related research at every level, from cells and circuits to cognition and disease — is the seventh-largest health-sciences topic in the Nature Index by article Count. In the latest 12-month window of data (at the time of writing, this was January to December 2025), 1,421 articles in the database were associated with the topic, which put it only slightly behind cardiovascular medicine and haematology, at 1,466.
The two leading countries in the Index for neuroscience output are the United States and China, whose institutions together account for nine of the top 10 positions by article Share in the current data window. European nations also make a strong contribution, with Germany placing third and the United Kingdom fourth.
Between 2022 and 2025, there was a modest increase in neuroscience-related publications in the index, at just over 200 articles. Neurology and neuromuscular diseases and computational neuroscience are two research areas within neuroscience that also grew in publication numbers over the period.
View our new topic explorer page to find rankings and publication statistics for other research areas.
Leading institutions in neuroscience in the Nature Index
Institutions are ranked by article Share for the period January to December 2025. Each institution's article count (Count) is also listed.
| Rank | Institution | Location | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harvard University | United States | 144 | 41.66 |
| 2 | National Institutes of Health | United States | 44 | 17.38 |
| 3 | Chinese Academy of Sciences | China | 78 | 17.04 |
| 4 | University College London | United Kingdom | 83 | 16.50 |
| 5 | Fudan University | China | 44 | 15.91 |
| 6 | University of California, San Francisco | United States | 57 | 15.59 |
| 7 | Stanford University | United States | 53 | 15.46 |
| 8 | Zhejiang University | China | 33 | 14.62 |
| 9 | People’s Liberation Army | China | 42 | 14.38 |
| 10 | University of California, Los Angeles | United States | 57 | 13.53 |
1. Harvard University
Share: 41.66
Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts is a dominant player in the field of neuroscience. Its Share is more than double that of both the US National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland — the second-ranked institution on the list — and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China’s leading organisation in this topic.
In the current data window, Harvard researchers were involved in the production of 144 neuroscience papers in the index, which accounts for about 10% of the total number of neuroscience papers that year. Harvard’s output includes five papers in Nature, one in Science and one in The Lancet.
Harvard’s top ranking reflects its strong position across the health-sciences; it is also the leading institution for health-sciences output in the index, and has been since the subject was added to the database in 2022.
2. National Institutes of Health
Share: 17.38
Together with Harvard, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) reinforces the United States’ position as the world leader in neuroscience within the Nature Index. Among the agency’s many institutes, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is one of the most important for neuroscience, as the country’s leading funder of brain- and nervous-system research.
NIH researchers published 12 neuroscience-related articles in Nature Communications in the current data window – more than in any other journal. The Annals of Neurology and Science Advances, both published four NIH-coauthored articles during the period.
Neuroscience is the NIH’s seventh most important research topic in the index by Share, behind topics such as clinical sciences, oncology and carcinogenesis, and cell biology. Though it has a low article Count in the topic, relative to several other top-10 institutions, its high Share suggests it contributed more authors per paper, on average.
3. Chinese Academy of Sciences
Share: 17.04
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is China’s top-ranked institution in neuroscience. CAS operates a wide network of research organizations, universities and laboratories, including the Institute for Neuroscience and the Centre for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, both in Shanghai.
Although CAS had a slightly lower neuroscience Share than the NIH in 2025, its Count is almost double, at 78 to 44. Together, about 30% of these articles appeared in Nature Neuroscience (14) and Neuron (10).
Although CAS has a strong ranking in neuroscience in the index, health-sciences research is not the institution’s main focus. For example, CAS ranks in the top two globally for its output in chemistry, biological sciences and physical sciences, but sits in 42nd place for health-sciences output.
4. University College London
Share: 16.50
For University College London (UCL), neuroscience is its second-largest topic area behind clinical sciences, by article Count. Health-sciences is the university's strongest subject in the index; it ranks 19th globally in the area in the current data window. In its next strongest subject, biological sciences, UCL ranks 38th globally.
In the current data window, UCL had the second-highest neuroscience article Count, after Harvard, but its Share puts it in fourth place.
5. Fudan University
Share: 15.91
Fudan University in Shanghai is China’s second-ranked institution for neuroscience research in the Nature Index. More than one-quarter of the university’s 44 papers on the topic were published in *Nature Communications *(13), including one study that linked molecules in the blood to brain structure, providing insights into how brain diseases develop.
Fudan university is an institution on the rise: between 2023 and 2025*, the university’s change in adjusted Share for all subjects in the Nature Index grew by 29.3%, placing it sixth among the fastest rising Chinese institutions.
6. University of California, San Francisco
Share: 15.59
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) — the third US institution in this ranking – counts Harvard University and University of California, Berkley among its top domestic collaborators for overall research in the index.
In the current data window, UCSF contributed to 57 neuroscience papers, including 15 published by Nature Communications and 11 by the Annals of Neurology.
Out of the broader subject areas in the index, health sciences is where UCSF performs best, ranking eighth globally in the current data window. By comparison, it ranks 17th in biological sciences and falls outside the top 300 in chemistry, physical sciences, and Earth and environmental sciences.
7. Stanford University
Share: 15.46
Stanford University in California ranks fifth globally for its health-sciences research and performs strongly in neuroscience. The topic does not appear within the university’s top 10 leading research topics by Count, however. It has a higher Share in topics such as clinical sciences, oncology and carcinogenesis, and bioinformatics and computational biology.
In the current data window, Stanford researchers contributed to 53 neuroscience papers in more than 20 different journals.
8. Zhejiang University
Share: 14.62
In the current data window, researchers from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou co-authored 33 neuroscience papers. The institution has a relatively high Share-to-Count ratio in this topic area.
Neuroscience papers contributed by Zhejiang University were published in Nature Communications and Neuron, among other journals.
9. People’s Liberation Army
Share: 14.38
The People’s Liberation Army, the primary armed forces of China, has a strong presence in neuroscience research. Neuroscience is the fourth ranked topic for the institution, by Share, after oncology and carcinogenesis, clinical sciences, and medical biotechnology.
In the current data window, PLA authors contributed to 42 neuroscience papers. One of these, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, investigated the link between the function of mitochondria — structures that provide a cell with energy — and nerve-related pain. The study found that elevation of a particular protein caused changes to the mitochondria and led to an increase in pain, making it a potential target for future therapeutics.
10. University of California, Los Angeles
Share: 13.53
The University of California, in Los Angeles (UCLA), forms part of one of the top five leading collaborations in neuroscience in the index globally, through its partnership with UCLA Health, a healthcare system affiliated with the university.
In the current data window, UCLA authors contributed to 57 neuroscience papers. The journals it published the most neuroscience papers in were Nature Communications (9 articles), the Annals of Neurology (7 articles) and The Journal of the American Medical Association (6 articles).
* Data for 2025 in this analysis represented the period September 2024 to August 2025.
