Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, affect millions of people globally, with a significant impact on individuals, families, economies and the wider society.  Worldwide, around 50 million people have some form of dementia and there are nearly 10 million new cases every year.  Finding ways to prevent, diagnose, treat and cure neurodegeneration is one of today’s most urgent medical needs.

In the UK, one in six people has at least one neurological condition, with a cost to the NHS of 4.4 billion pounds/year.  These disorders go far beyond issues with movement motor skills; in addition to Alzheimer’s, they include epilepsy, addiction and depression.  Many of these are neural circuit-level disorders, or problems with the ‘wiring’ of the brain, but current technologies lack the requisite precision and most are highly invasive.

London/ UK is home to the world's top universities for neuroscience and behavior.