Nobel laureates' celebrated status within the scientific community wanes sooner than one might expect, says a study led by Christine Charyton, a visiting neurologist at Ohio State University in Columbus. The analysis, based on citations and other metrics, shows that after a peak, most laureates' later work involving the Nobel-winning idea is no more accepted than their earliest articles. The study measured the impact of articles by 187 researchers who won Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry or medicine between 1980 and 2009. Charyton, who presented the paper on 6 August at the American Psychological Association Convention in Washington DC, suggests that later papers expand on and diverge from the Nobel-winning idea.