This volume is made up of papers presented at the Second International Altschul Symposium: Biology and Pathology of Astrocyte-Neuron Interactions. The symposium was held in Saskatoon, Canada at the University of Saskatchewn in May, 1992 in memory of Rudolf Altschul, a graduate of the University of Prague and a pioneer in the fields of the biology of the vascular and nervous systems. Dr. Altschul was Professor and Head of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Saskatchewan from 1955 to 1963. The Altschul Symposia were made possible by an endowment left by Anni Altschul and by other contributions. The symposia are held biennially. One of the greatest challenges for present day scientists is to uncover the mechanisms of brain function. Although cellular anatomy of the nervous system has already been well outlined and indeed was delineated by the beginning of the century, experimental analysis of the function of the brain is relatively recent. The framework of the brain is made up of stellate cells, the astrocytes, which are interconnected by means of their processes, thus presenting a meshwork through which the neurons send their axons, accompanied by oligodendrocytes. Microglia are distributed throughout the brain.

This volume contains papers presented at the Fourth International Altschul Sympo- sium, held June 27-29, 1996, at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatche- wan, Canada. The Altschul Symposia Series are held in memory of Rudolf Altschul, a graduate of the University of Prague and a pioneer in the fields of vascular and nervous system biology. Dr. Altschul was head of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Saskatchewan from 1955 to 1963. The Altschul Symposia are made possible by an endow- ment left by Anni Altschul, Dr. Altschul's wife, and by other contributions given by the sponsors listed at the end of this Preface. The objective of the Fourth Altschul Symposium, entitled Cell Biologv and Pathol- ogv of Myelin: Evolving Biological Concepts and Therapeutic Approaches, was to facili- tate the transfer of ideas on the biology and pathology of myelin from the research laboratory to the clinic by providing a forum for discussing the evolving biological con- cepts regarding myelin function in health and disease.

The last decades have witnessed a radical change in our views on central nervous system damage and repair. This change is not only due to the emergence of new powerful tools for the analysis of the brain and its reactions to insults, but it also reflects a conceptual change in the way we approach these problems. As an illustration to this development, it is instructive to go back to the proceedings of a meeting at the NIH in 1955 edited by William F. Windle, which summarizes the disillusioned and pessimistic view on CNS regeneration prevailing at the time. While this generation of researchers were well aware of the issues at stake, they felt they had reached the end of the road; the approaches they had pursued had got stuck and the tools available could not take them any further. I can very well imagine that the participants, most of them leaders in the field, left that conference feeling they had heard their field being sentenced to death.

This volume is made up of papers presented at the Second International Altschul Symposium: Biology and Pathology of Astrocyte-Neuron Interactions. The symposium was held in Saskatoon, Canada at the University of Saskatchewn in May, 1992 in memory of Rudolf Altschul, a graduate of the University of Prague and a pioneer in the fields of the biology of the vascular and nervous systems. Dr. Altschul was Professor and Head of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Saskatchewan from 1955 to 1963. The Altschul Symposia were made possible by an endowment left by Anni Altschul and by other contributions. The symposia are held biennially. One of the greatest challenges for present day scientists is to uncover the mechanisms of brain function. Although cellular anatomy of the nervous system has already been well outlined and indeed was delineated by the beginning of the century, experimental analysis of the function of the brain is relatively recent. The framework of the brain is made up of stellate cells, the astrocytes, which are interconnected by means of their processes, thus presenting a meshwork through which the neurons send their axons, accompanied by oligodendrocytes. Microglia are distributed throughout the brain.

This volume explores major light microscopic imaging modalities that can be used to view nervous tissue, and discusses the steps needed to use each of them, and ways to interpret the data. The chapters in this book cover topics such as atlasing of insect brain; neuroanatomical tracing through fluorochrome expression; fluorescent probes for amyloids; or optical clearing for ultramicroscopy of GFP- expressing tissues. In the Neuromethods series style, chapters include the kind of detail and key advice from the specialists needed to get successful results in your laboratory. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Neurohistology and Imaging Techniques is a valuable resource for both expert and novice users of major light microscopic imaging techniques, and those interested in exploring alternate imaging tools.

To facilitate the transfer of information from the laboratory to the clinic, 33 papers discuss the evolving biological concepts regarding myelin function in health and disease. They work within the understanding the membrane functions as more than a simple insulating sheath, and cover it as a dynami