The rat brain is the most widely used animal model in neurobio- logy. The frequency of its use underlines the need for stereotaxic atlases of the rat brain. The first attempt to fulfill this require- ment was made by Krieg (1946c), but his atlas contains only very rough data based on 30 schematic drawings of coronal sections. The drawings are exaggeratedly schematic and signifi- cantly distorted. This, together with the fact that Krieg delin- eated far too few structures in the di- and rhombencephalon, makes the accurate placement of electrodes difficult. Accurate [1] electrode placement is essential for advanced techniques in mod- em neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, and neurochemical studies. Nevertheless, Krieg's work represents the first delinea- tion of cortical areas in the rat. These delineations were more elaborately produced and partly corroborated by experimental work by Krieg (1946a, b, 1947). Despite its shortcomings, this fundamentally valuable series of reports greatly influenced ex- perimental approaches in the four decades following its publica- tion. The work of Konig and Klippel (1963) was another land- mark in the development of stereotaxic atlases of the rat brain. This atlas is one of the most widely used works of reference on stereotaxic coordinates of the rat brain. Some difficulties, however, arise from the drastic changes there have been in the accepted parcellation of the thalamus, septum, and amygdala since the publication of this atlas.

This volume provides an interdisciplinary approach to this central research topic. Firstly, the hippocampus is presented generally as a model for experiments on neurotransmission in the central nervous system; secondly, special features of synaptic organisation and synaptic transmission in this area of the brain are introduced. Of particular note is the wide-ranging methodological approach which includes light and electron microscopy, immunocytochemistry, Golgi/EM techniques, intracellular differentiation and intracellular colorings, histochemistry of transmitter enzymes and receptoraudiography. The reader thereby gains insight into the broad scope of methodological possibilities for the examination of such a complex problem as neurotransmission in the hippocampus.

An ontogenetic study of the central nervous system is an important tool for the under- standing of its morphological and morpho-functional relations. Numerous qualitative results on the ontogenesis of the visual system can be found in the literature, but there are only very few quantitative results fulfilling the following parameters: (1) samples of sufficient size; (2) measurements considering results of stereology; (3) evaluation and interpretation performed with sound biomathematical methods; (4) quantitative of the shrinkage caused by the histological technic. The first three results independent demands can be fulfilled by using available computerized stereological and biomathe- matical methods (Kretschmann and Wingert, 1968, 1969a, b, c, 1971; Wingert, 1969; Zilies and Wingert, 1972; Zilies et al., 1976a, c, d). The interdisciplinary cooperation between morphologists and mathematicians makes possible the analysis of the volume growth, the number of nerve-and glial cells in a whole brain region (Schleicher et al., 1975a, b; Zilies and Wingert, 1973a, b; Zilies et al., 1974, 1975a, b), the semi-automatic analysis of the nucleolar diameters in nerve cells (Zilies et al., 1976b) and computer aided compartment analysis with the point- counting method (Zilies et al., in press b). Tupaia belangeri, an interesting animal for neurobiologists, was the experimental animal of choice because it combines the advan- tages of a small brain (conducive to rapid processing) with many characteristics of the of the primate brain.

Mit der Anatomie legt man die wesentlichen Grundlagen fur alle klinischen Facher Um Krankheiten, Symptome und Zusammenhange zu verstehen ist ein grundliches Studium der Anatomie unerlasslich. Immer wieder werden Studierende und Arzte auf ihre anatomischen Kenntnisse zuruckgreifen. Neben einem Anatomie-Atlas ist ein gutes, ubersichtliches und didaktisch hervorragendes Lehrbuch absolut notwendig. Mit dem "Zilles / Tillmann" erhalten Sie die komplette Anatomie in einer bestechenden Qualitat. Ein Grossteil der Abbildungen wurde neu gezeichnet, die Texte sind lerngerecht aufgebaut und die zahlreichen Tabellen helfen bei der schnellen Orientierung. Eine Vielzahl von klinischen Hinweisen und Details machen deutlich, warum und wieso man uberhaupt anatomische Strukturen lernen muss. So macht das Lesen und Lernen wirklich Sinn "