The Government has pledged £375m for research into neurodegenerative diseases over the next five years.

The investment will support the search for new treatments for a range of conditions, including Alzheimer’s, Pick’s disease and Frontotemporal dementia, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.

The funding includes at least £50m to help find new therapies – and eventually a cure – for motor neurone disease (MND), a condition in which the brain and nerves progressively degenerate.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the £50m tranche in the Sunday Express, writing that it will “transform the fight” against MND, which he says “kills six people” in the UK every day.