OBSOLETE. Any process that modulates the occurrence or rate of cell death by apoptosis in the nervous system. It may stop or prevent or reduce the rate of cell death by apoptosis and it is activated by stress to counteract death signals in central nervous systems. Different neuroprotective mechanisms may be activated to combat distinct types of cellular stress, ERK pathway is one of several neuroprotective mechanisms and it is a model system to study neuronal apoptosis, which may contribute to several neurodegenerative diseases and aging-related neuron loss.