Disclosed are compounds and methods for treating neurological and other disorders by administering to a subject in need thereof an effective amount of a compound having binding and/or modulation specificity for GFRα receptor molecules, which can be mimetics of glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family ligands (GFLs), GFRα/RET signaling pathway agonists, and/or direct RET agonists (activators).