Efforts in the discovery of new drugs for CNS disorders have been relatively unsuccessful compared with other disease areas in the last decades. Reasons for that include the lack of druggable "magic bullet" targets due to the high complexity of the CNS, but also the lack of defined pathology and finally the unavailability of good animal models. "Polypharmacy" of patients being treated by a multitude of drugs, each tackling specific aspects of disease pathophysiology and symptoms, may be required in the future. Therefore, targeting of multiple disease pathways and multiple targets has been suggested. Thus, new and improved therapies rely on additional new "druggable" targets. These proteins need to be further validated and new lead compounds need to be identified. One novel class of potential targets for Alzheimer's disease (AD) comprises the family of neuronal calcium sensor (NCS) proteins. NCS proteins have been discussed as biomarkers, have been implicated in CNS disorders with cognitive impairments, such as AD, depression and schizophrenia, and play a role for molecular mechanisms of cognition. Thus, therapeutical potential lies in modulating functional activity of the novel drug target VILIP-1. Positive and/or negative modulatory compounds for VILIP-1 may offer early neuroprotective and/or counteract cognitive decline at later stages of AD.