Mechanism Underlying Major Neurodegenerative Disorders

Neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs) are brain-associated late-onset disorders, and due to increase in its prevalence, significant efforts have been made to uncover the underlying molecular and cellular pathogenic mechanisms. Even though NDDs uniquely affect specific neuronal subpopulations, the accumulation of distinct protein is known to cause neuronal loss. Additionally, with the advent of new techniques, progressive neuronal loss, synaptic dysfunction, altered calcium homeostasis, aberrant neural activity, and impairment in large-scale neural circuits are also well-documented features of NDDs. In the present chapter, we provide a comprehensive insight into the common pathogenic mechanisms underlying debilitating neurodegenerative diseases. We have discussed about the abnormal protein dynamics with misfolding, defective degradation, proteosomal dysfunction, and aggregation.