Neurosciences Research Symposium Summaries

by Francis O. Schmitt (Editor)

This is the fourth annual anthology of the Neurosciences Research Program Work Session reports which have appeared in the issues of the Neurosciences Research Program Bulletin for 1969–1970. It continues the coverage of "hot" areas in the neurosciences begun in 1966 with the first volume of this series. The current volume includes core research topics from a wide range of the neurosciences (neurophysiology, cell biology, neurochemistry, and animal behavior) in five critical summaries of research. These five Work Session reports are the result of a 2½-day meeting of outstanding specialists held at M.I.T.'s NRP center and serve as a state-of-the-art report and indicator of research directions for neuroscientists of many disciplines. It provides, as well, a succinct and assimilable introduction for the newcomer. The reports, written by the Work Session chairmen, have had the benefit of updating by the Work Session participants and the editorial contributions of NRP writers. The extensive bibliographies were selected by the experts themselves for relevance and quality.

W. Ross Adey, in "Slow Electrical Phenomena in the Central Nervous System," reviews the latest advances in the knowledge of neuroelectrical activities of the brain and the question of how they are related to the propagation of the neuronal impulse. The Detlev Ploog-Theodore Melnechuk review, "Primate Communication," brings together the findings of behavioral psychologists, neurophysiologists, and psycholinguists in an attempt to find a common base for studies of verbal and nonverbal communication. The article by Francis O. Schmitt and Frederick E. Samson, Jr., "Brain Cell Microenvironment," explores and reviews the role of intercellular macromolecules that impinge on the neuronal membrane and affect electricochemical processing of information. Lloyd Guth's "Trophic Effects of Vertebrate Neurons" integrates old and new data on limb regeneration, muscle atrophy, and taste-bud renewal, phenomena that seem to depend on the nonelectrical activities of nerve cells. The last section, Donald M. MacKay's "Evoked Brain Potentials as Indicators of Sensory Information Processing," examines the results of extensive research on the electrical signals evoked from the brain by sensory stimulation and the various techniques used to study them.

528 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 1970