Skip to main content
Proceedings

VIEW LARGER COVER

Neurodegeneration: Exploring Commonalities Across Diseases is the summary of a workshop hosted by the Institute of Medicine's (IOM's) Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders in Spring 2012 to explore commonalities across neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Participants from academia; pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries; government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); patient advocacy groups; and private foundations presented and identified potential opportunities for collaboration across the respective research and development communities. This report identifies and discusses commonalities related to genetic and cellular mechanisms, identifies areas of fundamental science needed to facilitate therapeutics development, and explores areas of potential collaboration among the respective research communities.

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, ALS, and FTD, are becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States due to an aging population. Implications are grave for quality of life and health care costs. Research on neurodegenerative diseases has expanded greatly over the past four decades. Nevertheless, fundamental questions remain about the biology of these diseases, and further insights into the mechanisms of these diseases would help to inform the development of effective means to prevent and to efficiently treat them. Recent findings have revealed certain commonalities in genetic and cellular mechanisms across neurodegenerative diseases. These findings suggest that it might be valuable - at least in some cases - to change the traditional way of studying these diseases by no longer seeing each as an independent entity, but rather as clinical variants of common cellular and molecular biological defects. This approach could help enhance basic scientific understanding of neurodegenerative disease, and could help with the development of biomarkers and new therapeutics.

Suggested Citation

Institute of Medicine. 2013. Neurodegeneration: Exploring Commonalities Across Diseases: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/18341.

Import this citation to:

Publication Info

106 pages |  6 x 9 | 

ISBNs: 
  • Paperback:  978-0-309-28567-4
  • Ebook:  978-0-309-28570-4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/18341

What is skim?

The Chapter Skim search tool presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter. You may select key terms to highlight them within pages of each chapter.

Copyright Information

The National Academies Press (NAP) has partnered with Copyright Clearance Center's Marketplace service to offer you a variety of options for reusing NAP content. Through Marketplace, you may request permission to reprint NAP content in another publication, course pack, secure website, or other media. Marketplace allows you to instantly obtain permission, pay related fees, and print a license directly from the NAP website. The complete terms and conditions of your reuse license can be found in the license agreement that will be made available to you during the online order process. To request permission through Marketplace you are required to create an account by filling out a simple online form. The following list describes license reuses offered by the NAP through Marketplace:

  • Republish text, tables, figures, or images in print
  • Post on a secure Intranet/Extranet website
  • Use in a PowerPoint Presentation
  • Distribute via CD-ROM
  • Photocopy

Click here to obtain permission for the above reuses. If you have questions or comments concerning the Marketplace service, please contact:

Marketplace Support
International +1.978.646.2600
US Toll Free +1.855.239.3415
E-mail: support@copyright.com
marketplace.copyright.com

To request permission to distribute a PDF, please contact our Customer Service Department at customer_service@nap.edu.

loading iconLoading stats for Neurodegeneration: Exploring Commonalities Across Diseases: Workshop Summary...