The present volume is based upon the invited review lectures delivered to the European Brain and Behaviour Society's Workshop on Recovery of Function Following Brain Damage held at Goldsmiths' College, University of London, in April 1991. Coming exactly ten years after the Society's ftrst meeting on this subject, held at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, a major objective of the Workshop was to review progress in the intervening years. This task was begun by Professor D. G. Stein in his opening presentation. Looking ahead to possible developments in recovery research in the next decade was the subject of Professor B. Kolb's closing lecture. The intervening presentations reviewed progress made in speciftc areas of recovery research. In addition to reviewing progress over the last decade we sought to achieve an additional objective in the way that the invited review lectures were organised. This was to bring together those doing basic research, usually animal research, and those whose of the lectures were "paired," research interests are more clinically orientated. Thus some one concentrating on the results of animal studies and one on clinical research findings.