O. Creutzfeldt - Böcker

These are the records of the 7th International Neurobiology Meeting, which was held at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry in September 1975. The Neurobiology meetings started about 20 years ago with the aim of bringing together scientists working on the nervous system with different methods such as anatomy, physiology, endocrinology and biochemistry, and to create a common approach to what is now called "neurosciences". When these meetings were in­ augurated by a few it was decided not to found a society, but to keep them informal and to leave it to the respective host to decide on the program and formate. At the end of each meeting, a small informal committee chose the next host and organizer. In such a way, meetings were held in various places (Amsterdam, Kiel, Stockholm, Oslo, Oxford) and on different subjects such as neuroendocrinology, the limbic and the visual systems, on excitatory and in­ hibitory synaptic mechanisms. The contributions to some of the meetings were published. Also, this time it was discussed whether - in view of the growth, the in­ creasingly structured organization and, at the same time, diversification of the neurosciences - another meeting of this sort should be held. It became during this discussion, that the tradition of these meetings should be con­ tinued, since they can be considered complementary to the formal, all embra­ cing congresses, as an informal gathering of neuroscientists interested in the borader aspects of one particular subject of this still growing discipline.

o. D. CREUTZFELDT, Max-Planck-Institut fUr Biophysikalische Chern ie, D-3400 G6ttingen, FRG In the name of the European Brain and Behaviour Society (EBBS) and the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, I welcome you to this workshop on Hearing Mechanisms and Speech. It is the aim of EBBS, to tackle brain mechanisms of complex behavioral performances. Language is certainly a complex - haviour, and understanding of language as well. Through language an individual is able to express the internal p- cesses within his brain in symbols of this experience and communicate them to others. This implies also the description of the world in which we live in as far as this world induces, through the sensory organs, activities in our brains. This symbolical representation of the world is, in itself, a real world to which our brain relates itself, in creating and in understanding it (Creutzfeldt, 1979). Therefore, any s- cific language influences thinking and broader aspects of behaviour, and this may explain some of the differences as found between language populations (Herder, 1772iHumboldt, 1836). In as much as the function of language is a symbolical rep- sentation of reality, it must be able to describe this reality, sufficiently and generally. In so far, the rules to which any XIII language is subjected, are dictated by the reality to which we relate ourself through language. These rules are general, and therefore general rules or a universal grammar may be generated, common to all languages (Chomsky, 1965).

Over 200 neuroscientists met at the Max-Planck-Institut fur Biophysikalische Chemie in Gottingen between April 7th-9th 1983 in order to honour a foreign member of the Institute, namely Sir John Carew Eccles, who celebrated his 80th birthday on January 27th 1983. It was a lively scientific gathering of former students, colleagues and friends of Sir John and Lady Helena. We had all come together from different parts of the world to celebrate this occasion, which gave us the wonderful chance to meet the various members of a large family, united by respect and gratitude for Sir John. The lectures were based on the many themes which have been at the centre of John Eccles' scientific zeal throughout his life. Indeed the chapter headings of this book have been taken from the book titles of Sir John's own work. We would also have liked to publish the discussions which took place after every lecture and to each of which John Eccles contributed in his usual lively manner, but editing them would not have conveyed the stimulating atmosphere, which Sir John created.

Stjärne: The present review puts the emphasis on two important developments: the discovery that individual postganglionic sympathetic neurons may secrete multiple transmitter substances from different classes of vesicles and by different mechanisms, and the introduction of new techniques which may permit for the first time direct impulse by impulse analysis of transmitter secretion in individual sympathetic nerve varicosities. Illes: Exogenous and endogen opioid peptides elicit a number of effects in the organism, usually by modifying the function of transmitter and hormone systems, for example, activation of multiple opioid receptors. The effects of opioids on transmitter and hormone release have frequently been reviewed. This review gives a detailed overview on the involvement of multiple opioid receptors in these processes. Rothstein: This article gives an overview of the exchange in acidification and transepithelial salt and water transfer in nonepithelial cells. Delineating the exchanger's most important, common features, and concentrating particularly on its role in cell pH and volume regulation.