Ageing brings with it increased chance of neurodegenerative disease. Identifying mechanisms behind the increased predisposition of neurons to cytotoxic stress could be the answer to diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
The EU-funded ADAPTOGENE (Functional evaluation of newly identified deregulated genes in Alzheimer's disease patients using neuronal cultures and mouse model of the disease, and possible contributions to prion disease) project has investigated the link between ageing and susceptibility of neurons to cytotoxic stress.
Further details: The road from physiological to pathological ageing