Neurodegenerative Diseases: from the First CNS Drugs to New Treatments in Discovery (A Review)

Man has always sought to eradicate pathologies that affect the CNS (pain, anxiety, insomnia, euphoriants, psychedelic drugs, etc.). This obsession with finding new molecules that act on the CNS, has been considerably amplified by the increasingly frequent appearance of neurodegenerative diseases which affect human health. It is predicted that the world-wide prevalence of Alzheimer’s Disease dementia, will triple from its current 50 to 150 million by 2050. The first part of this manuscript is a brief history of the discovery of the first molecules acting on the CNS. The second part describes drugs that are actually prescribed for the treatment of AD, unfortunately, these drugs have only low effectiveness on the disease, or even no observable effects. The third part describes current advances in the field of therapy of CNS-related diseases. Three research directions are currently in development: research for new innovative “small molecules” or resulting from a repositioning of molecules having received marketing authorization; development of monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of neurodegenerative pathologies; development of specific treatments such as neurostimulation for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease; the last part of the manuscript is devoted to the Human Brain Connectome Project (HBCP), which aims to better understand the biological mechanisms of these neurodegenerative pathologies, and to help in the development of new treatments.