The NCX protein family, which consists of the NCX1, NCX2 and NCX3 isoforms, has been shown to play a pivotal role in the maintenance of intracellular Na+ and Ca2+ homeostasis in the brain, and to have a protective role in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease (Pannaccione et al., 2020) and brain ischemia (Molinaro et al., 2013). This evidence concerns the gene SLC8A1 and brain ischemia.