Scientists have identified the first compound that eliminates the ongoing degeneration of upper motor neurons that become diseased and are a key contributor to ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a swift and fatal neurodegenerative disease that paralyzes its victims. In ALS, movement-initiating nerve cells in the brain and muscle-controlling nerve cells in the spinal cord die. After administering the new compound,, the diseased brain neurons stopped degenerating so much that they became similar to healthy control neurons after 60 days of treatment.