Neurodegeneration articles from across Nature Portfolio

Parkinson disease (PD) has been linked to dysfunction in a number of key intracellular signalling pathways that contribute to disease pathology. Coukos and Krainc describe the physiological functions of a selection of PD-linked proteins and their convergent effects on mitochondrial, lysosomal and synaptic dysfunction in PD.

Selective vulnerability of particular neuronal cell types is a characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases. Martin Kampmann explores our current understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that lead to selective vulnerability in different diseases.

The drug, which is in the same family as blockbuster weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy, slowed development of symptoms by a small but statistically significant amount.

Stress responses protect cells from harmful conditions, but once the stress has resolved, these responses must be actively turned off to avoid cell damage that might lead to the development of neurodegenerative disease.

A single gene in astrocytes can constrain repetitive behaviours, indicating that these cells are regulators of behavioural disruption in conditions such as Huntington’s disease and obsessive–compulsive disorder.

Active neurons can stimulate the clearance of their own metabolic waste by driving changes to ion gradients in the surrounding fluid and by promoting the pulsation of nearby blood vessels.

The accelerating digital health landscape, coupled with the proliferation of wearable devices and advanced neuroimaging, offers an unprecedented avenue to develop precision interventions for enhancing physical activity in aging. This approach requires deep baseline phenotyping to match older adults with the intervention poised to yield maximal health benefits. However, building sufficient evidence to translate precision physical activity recommendations into clinical practice requires a collaborative effort that includes accessible open data. We propose a strategic roadmap to design and implement personalized programs, effectively decreasing physical inactivity and bolstering adherence among older adults.

Using a data-driven proteomics strategy from a prospective community-based cohort with long-term follow-up, this study reports that plasma levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) can predict the risk of dementia, even 15 years before disease diagnosis. Our findings have important implications for early screening and interventions for dementia.