Degradation of membrane compartments, organelles and other debris through macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy) is thought to occur in most, maybe all, cells. We recently reported the discovery of a neuron-specific endomembrane degradation mechanism that depends on the vesicle SNARE neuronal Synaptobrevin (n-Syb) and the vesicle ATPase component V100 (the V(0)a1 subunit). Loss of n-Syb causes degeneration of adult photoreceptor neurons in Drosophila, reminiscent of adult-onset degeneration in neurons with defective autophagy. Here we explore the potential importance of this newly discovered neuron-specific degradation mechanism in comparison with ubiquitous autophagy machinery for adult-onset neurodegeneration.