1h The 5 International Conference on the Progress in Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's 51 1 Disease took place from March 31 to April 5 \ 2001 in Kroto, Japan. This international 1 conference was organized as a joint Congress with the 9 International Catecholamine Symposium. A total of 1258 clinicians and researchers participated in this joint congress 1h from 38 countries in the world. This book represents the proceedings of the 5 Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The International Conference on the Progress in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease was first launched by Professor Abraham Fisher of Israel and Professor Israel Hanin of USA. The first conference was held in Eilat, Israel in 1985. The second conference was organized in Kyoto, Japan in 1989; the third one in Chicago, USA, in 1993, and the fourth one in Eilat, Israel in 1997. The International Catecholamine Symposium (ICS) is an international meeting devoted to the development of basic as well as clinical research on catecholamines. The first Catecholamine Symposium was held in Bethesda, USA in 1958. Since then this symposium has occurred every 5 years. Professor Toshiharu Nagatsu was appointed as 1h the president of the 9 International Catecholamine Symposium, which was to be held in 200 I also in Japan. Therefore, we decided to organize a joint congress of the two meetings, because there is much overlap in research between Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and catecholamines. We thank Professor Nagatsu very much for agreeing to organizing this joint congress.

1h The 5 International Conference on the Progress in Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's 51 1 Disease took place from March 31 to April 5 \ 2001 in Kroto, Japan. This international 1 conference was organized as a joint Congress with the 9 International Catecholamine Symposium. A total of 1258 clinicians and researchers participated in this joint congress 1h from 38 countries in the world. This book represents the proceedings of the 5 Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The International Conference on the Progress in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease was first launched by Professor Abraham Fisher of Israel and Professor Israel Hanin of USA. The first conference was held in Eilat, Israel in 1985. The second conference was organized in Kyoto, Japan in 1989; the third one in Chicago, USA, in 1993, and the fourth one in Eilat, Israel in 1997. The International Catecholamine Symposium (ICS) is an international meeting devoted to the development of basic as well as clinical research on catecholamines. The first Catecholamine Symposium was held in Bethesda, USA in 1958. Since then this symposium has occurred every 5 years. Professor Toshiharu Nagatsu was appointed as 1h the president of the 9 International Catecholamine Symposium, which was to be held in 200 I also in Japan. Therefore, we decided to organize a joint congress of the two meetings, because there is much overlap in research between Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and catecholamines. We thank Professor Nagatsu very much for agreeing to organizing this joint congress.

In 1991, a small annual meeting named "International Winter Conference on Neurodegeneration (lWCN)" was established; the aim of this meeting is to review the neurodegenerative disorders and to attempt to explore how progress might be made in this field, as the neurodegenerative disorders have been emerging to be one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in modern societies. The first meeting took place in Seefeld, Austria, in February 1992; the topics for the first IWCN were chosen to provide a broad foundation of clinical science, which included the problem of aging, classification of neurodegenerative disorders and of Alzheimer's dis natural history, pathology, and clinical neurology ease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The fundamental pathology underlying these neurodegenerative disorders is neuronal cell death. For the understanding of pathophysiol ogy and the development of neuroprotective treatment for these dis orders, elucidation of the mechanism of neuronal cell death at the cellular and molecular level is essential. With this concept in mind, the second IWCN was held in Whistler Village in Canada in January 1993. Funding was generously provided by Schering AG, Berlin, and for the excellent organization we have to thank Ms. Ingeborg Runge.