Studies of neurodegenerative diseases using <i>Drosophila</i> and the development of novel approaches for their analysis

The use of <i>Drosophila</i> in neurodegenerative disease research has contributed to the identification of modifier genes for the pathology. The basis for neurodegenerative disease occurrence in <i>Drosophila</i> is the conservation of genes across species and the ability to perform rapid genetic analysis using a compact brain. Genetic findings previously discovered in <i>Drosophila</i> can reveal molecular pathologies involved in human neurological diseases in later years. Disease models using <i>Drosophila</i> began to be generated during the development of genetic engineering. In recent years, results of reverse translational research using <i>Drosophila</i> have been reported. In this review, we discuss research on neurodegenerative diseases; moreover, we introduce various methods for quantifying neurodegeneration in <i>Drosophila</i>.