Techniques in Neuroanatomical Research

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Anatomy is the mother of physiology" - this statement was used to characterize the evolution of physiology from anato­ my as an independent science in the late nineteenth century. It had particular truth for neurophysiology, which started as functional neuroanatomy based on the observation of changes in behaviour after lesions of the nervous system both in ex­ perimental animals and in human patients. Today, anatomy may again be considered the mother of physiology, however, the meaning of this statement is rather different from that 100 years ago: The modem mother provides a dwelling for an increasing number of children endowed with new functional capabilities. This book provides a good illustration of such se­ mantic metamorphosis in the case of neuroanatomy. After a long period of little progress in either macroscopic neuroanatomy or neurohistology, during which the heritage of Cajal, Golgi, and others was developed and refined to yield a functional concept of the nervous system, the past two de­ cades have seen tremendous progress in methods applicable to the analysis of the nervous system. The new era was heralded by the introduction of the electron microscope to investigate the nervous system. This book is an impressive witness to the more recent developments.