The presence of sophisticated auditory processing in mammals has permitted perhaps the most significant evolutionary development in humans: that of language. An understanding of the neural basis of hearing is thus a starting point for elucidating the mechanisms that are essential to human communication. The cochlear nucleus is the first region of the brain to receive input from the inner ear and is therefore the earliest stage in the central nervous system at which auditory signals are processed for distribution to higher centers. Clarifying its role in the central auditory pathway is crucial to our knowledge of how the brain deals with complex stimuli such as speech, and is also essential for understanding the central effects of peripheral sensorineural hearing loss caused by, for example, aging, ototoxic drugs, and noise. Ambitious new developments to assist people with total sensorineural deafness, including both cochlear and cochleus nuclear implants, require a detailed knowledge of the neural signals received by the brainstem and how these are processed. Recently, many new data have been obtained on the structure and function of the cochlear nucleus utilizing combinations of anatomical, physiological, pharmacological and molecular biological procedures. Approaches such as intracellular dye-filling of physiologically identified neurons, localization of classical neurotransmitters, peptides, receptors and special proteins, or gene expression have opened the door to novel morphofunctional correlations.

Cajal and De Castro's Neurohistological Methods provides the first English translation of Fernando de Castro's 1933 publication "Elementos de Tecnica Micrografica del Sistema Nervioso ". A student of the famed founder of modern neuroscience, with Santiago Ramon y Cajal also serving as the Editor of the original text, Fernando de Castro recorded all the various protocols that had been used in his laboratory by his students in order to provide a manual of histological procedures specifically designed for the fine structure of the nervous system. This renowned text is virtually unknown in its original form outside the Spanish-speaking world. In a text that reads like a mix between a recipe book and an alchemical manuscript, authors Miguel Merchan, Javier DeFelipe, and Fernando de Castro (descendant of the 1933 publication's author) put the new translation into historical context. This book is also beautifully illustrated with plates of histological techniques, provides a quick guide to new vocabulary, and the author's notes on the translated text. This pivotal work of classic neurohistological techniques is a wonderful addition to the Cajal library.

Consolidates the information presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop held at the U. of Salamanca, Spain in September 1991, at which leading scientists working on the cochlear nucleus presented and discussed their recent results. The studies presented in this volume reemphasize the current k