SNCA and neurodegenerative disease: Many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), are caused by the misfolding and aggregation of proteins such as tau, alpha‐synuclein, superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), and TAR DNA‐binding protein‐43 (TDP‐43; Lansbury & Lashuel, 2006).