The intricate relationships between music and human neurological makeup, as well as the ways in which music can influence neurological development, are explored in this volume, which is a continuation and expansion of two symposia that have preceded it, both of which have been published as Annals volumes.

Researchers in the fields of neurophysiology, neuroimaging, mind-brain studies, and psychology present findings on the evaluation of neurological disorders and music, the relationship of music to development and language, and musical perception. The use and impact of music therapy is discussed in a roundtable format.

Do animals have music? How is music similar to language? How is music represented mentally? This volume addresses these questions and others surrounding this exciting and growing field--a field that generates interest far beyond the boundaries of the neuroscientific world, encompassing education, performance, and the appreciation of music by all peoples.

The book also offers articles written from the perspective of the fields of ethology and evolution, as well as papers on vocal learning, auditory perception, performance, and emotional response to music.

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The aim of the colloquium from which this multi-author book derives, was to outline the specific expression of epilepsies involving the limbic structures in children and to establish a consensus on the evidence relevant to the clinical management of these epilepsies. The book addresses basic questions such as age-related aetiologic, pathogenetic and prognostic factors relevant to the course of infantile epilepsies with limbic seizures, and enlightens the criteria for their clinical and laboratory assessment. The interaction between basic scientists, neuropaediatricians and neurosurgeons contributes to define suitable strategies aimed at preventing the unfavourable course of these often severe infantile epilepsies and their optimal timing.

The Mariani Foundation meeting held in Milan, December 1995, discussed the topic of falls in epileptic and non-epileptic seizures during childhood. Specialists among the most qualified were invited to assist in understanding of the basic principles of cerebral development and brain function, with specific attention to those structures and mechanisms involved in the phenomenon of falls. Epileptologists illustrate the different semiologic modalities clinical conditions in which the fall is an essential symptom. A main part of the meeting was dedicated to the medical and surgical treatment of syndromes where falls appear in the foreground. The meeting gathered child neurologists and psychologists, epileptologists and paediatricians in order to stimulate an occasion for drop seizures by limiting the risks to which they are subjected, and to try and compensate the psychological and social limitations affecting them.

This volume is based on an advanced course on epileptogenic and excitotoxic mechanisms with emphasis on development. Information on partial and generalised epileptogenesis, derived from different experimental models, is comprehensively reviewed. Special sections are devoted to anatomical, biochemical and functional aspects of the maturing brain and to their interaction with epileptogenic agents. Several seizure-related factors, for example an intracellular rise of calcium, can lead to excitotoxic cellular damage. Despite some protective mechanisms, this risk is particularly worrying in the immature brain due to the over-expression and facilitation of NMDA receptors, the depolarising effect of GAGA and the immaturity of ionic homoeostasis. Seizures in early developmental stages can thus result in permanent defects and epileptic sequelae. Our present understanding of basic mechanisms of the epilepsies allows pharmacologists to design new drugs with specific pharmacological action targeted on crucial epileptogenic factors. These results, together with those of developmental studies of excitotoxicity, provide a basis for new therapeutic strategies aimed at preventing the development of severe infantile epileptic encephalopathies and at alleviating their dramatic consequences. The authors have combined their personal experience with a comprehensive review of the literature, providing the reader, either scientist or clinician, with an updated and exhaustive account of every topic.

A new phase of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) investigation has begun in which new drugs can be designed to target specific epileptogenic mechanisms. A rational approach to therapy today requires not only a full awareness of phamacokinetics of AEDs but also a thorough knowledge of their molecular targets and of their influence on excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms in the brain. This book provides a multi-author systematic look at this subject, from neurobiological bases to clinical applications. It includes four sections dealing with fundamental aspects of cortical excitability, models of epileptic disorders, targets for anti-epileptic drugs and rational approaches to therapy. Each chapter provides a review of a specific topic prepared by well known scientists active in the field, introducing their most recent results in a concise and comprehensive form.

Thanks to advanced imaging techniques, it is now possible to recognise in vivo structural alterations of the cortex leading in many patients to epileptic syndromes, frequently resistant to pharmacological treatment. Areas analysed in this book are: mechanisms of cortical development; animal models of neuronal migration disorders mimicking human pathology; electroclinical, neuroradiological and neuropathological studies of the different forms of cortical dysplasia. This volume includes contributions from neurologists, epileptologists, neuropaediatricians as well as paediatricians and neuroscientists, stimulating a multidisciplinary discussion to improve diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

The advances of basic sciences combined with the perspectives of developmental neurology have recently modified the traditional outlook on the evolution of motor behavior. The maturation of neuro-anatomic structures is studied nowadays as just one facet of a complex process: the various elements of innate global patterns, the acquisition of antigravitary schemes as well as manipulative and praxic skills, control of posture and gait, ocular motility and motricity, converge to create the present picture of a continuous adaptive interaction between the child's genotype and its environment. This book stimulates the debate and the exchange of concepts between researchers and clinical specialists.