As traced by Uichael Bradbury in his recently published monograph, The Concept of a BZood-Brain Barrier, the idea of a scientific challenge is just about as old as the twentieth century. Curiously, it remains undefined. Is it a structure or structures as some use the term, or is it a reciprocal per meability, a force-flow relationship, as do others, or is it a group of processes, some more specialized than others? Depend ing upon the observer, the method, and what is observed, it seems to be each of these or all. This Symposium takes as its focus of interest the micro vasculature of the brain and includes considerations of blood flow, the properties of vessel walls and the control of flow and permeability. In addition perturbations that change the characteristics of the flow of materials are given attention. By changing the usual focus of interest, the organizers, Drs. Suddith and Eisenberg, have given a fresh outlook to the subject and now, by publication of the Proceedings, have arranged for wide availability of these interesting papers. Keasley Welch v PREFACE A symposium on the cerebral microvasculature and its function in the blood-brain barrier was held at The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, in the summer of 1979. Investigators from the United States and Europe met to discuss their recent work."

This book provides a superb integration of clinical and research findings on catastrophic brain injury. The clinical chapters address the definition, epidemiology, pathophysiology, and outcome of the most severe closed head injuries that typically result in death or devastating neurobehavioral sequelae. They cover cerebral metabolism following catastrophic brain injury, medical management, pharmacologic treatment for survivors, the impact on the family, and legal and ethical issues. The chapters on experimental research include reviews of recent advances in characterizing neurochemical interactions contributing to secondary brain injury and of experimental studies of the effects of neural transplantation on cognitive performance in animals. A summary chapter synthesizes the clinical and experimental material, provides an update concerning ongoing clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of drugs and hypothermia in the treatment of acute severe head injury, and offers a perspective on future directions of research to mitigate the consequences of severe head injury.

The cognitive and behavioral functions of the frontal lobes have been of great interest to neuroscientists, neurologists, psychologists and psychiatrists. Recent technical advances have made it possible to trace their neuroanatomical connections more precisely and to conduct evoked potential and neuroimaging studies in patients. This book presents a broad and authoritative synthesis of research progress in this field. It encompasses neuroanatomical studies; experiments involving temporal organization and working memory tasks in non-human primates; clinical studies of patients following frontal lobe excisions for intractable epilepsy; metabolic imaging in schizophrenia and affective disorder; neurobehavioral studies of patients with dementia, frontal lobe tumors, and head injuries; magnetic resonance imaging methods for studying human frontal lobe anatomy; theoretical approaches to describing frontal lobe functions; and rehabilitation of patients with frontal lobe damage including their core problem of diminished awareness. Written by a distinguished group of neuroscientists, psychologists and clinicians, Frontal Lobe Function and Dysfunction provides the best current source of information on this region of the brain and its role in cognition, behavior and clinical disorders.

Despite extensive documentation of post-concussion symptoms following apparently mild head injury, only in recent years has the full magnitude of the problem been appreciated. This book provides the first comprehensive discussion of recent advances in the understanding, treatment, and management of mild head injury. It covers strategies of neurosurgical management in adults and children, neuroimaging and neurophysiological methods of investigation, experimental models, neurobehavioural outcome in adults and children, psychosocial function, sports injuries, and epidemiological aspects. Innovative programs to mitigate disability after mild head injury are reviewed by the physicians and psychologists who have developed these techniques. This thoroughly interdisciplinary book will be of value to neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, neurologists, and psychiatrists.

This book presents a comprehensive analysis of the very important clinical issue of recovery of function after head injury. It emphasizes recent advances in research on the outcome of head injury and provides a critical commentary on methodological problems. The use of clinical neuropsychological procedures, laboratory-based cognitive tasks, psychiatric interviewing and radiological techniques to assess the outcome of head injury is fully discussed. The list of contributors to this book is distinguished, multidisciplinary and international. The volume will be of particular value to neurologists, neurosurgeons and clinical psychologists. With improvements in trauma care, the number of young people surviving head injury with varying degrees of brain damage has increased, so the question of their neurobehavioural recovery is timely.