This special issue features a collection of papers examining multiple aspects of central and peripheral nervous system development. They address molecular, genetic, and cellular aspects of central and peripheral nervous system organization and regional development. These papers highlight recent work from laboratories and investigators using vertebrate models to study processes affecting the early development of the nervous system. Several areas of the nervous system, such as the developing eye and spinal cord are used as models for examining molecular and cellular events contributing to neural development. Additional studies address genetic aspects of central nervous system development and identify novel genes implicated in CNS patterning. These papers present a diversity of approaches and model systems while retaining a central focus on the early events required to shape the nervous system. Researchers and instructors in developmental biology and developmental neuroscience will profit most from this publication.

Since the last Taniguchi Symposium on Brain Science dealt with the subject of developmental neurobiology in 1982 and again in 1985, the field has greatly advanced in several respects. Twelve years ago, our knowledge on the segmentation or compartmentalization of the vertebrate nervous systems was extremely fragmental. Today through a combination of transcription factors and cell-cell signaling molecules and their receptors, we can explain how regional specification of vertebrate brains is accomplished, and how the neuraxis is established in development. We also have several sets of molecules which play roles in the directional growth of axons and specification of neuron wiring. Advances in technology, particularly in gene manipulation techniques in mice, have enabled us to explore the exact functions of molecules or genes in the development of vertebrate nervous systems. Finally, the development of new experimental animal models, in particular zebrafish, has opened a way for genetic approach even to the vertebrate nervous systems. This timely publication presents a broad spectrum of developmental mechanisms on vertebrate nervous systems at molecular and cellular levels.

The architecture of an embryo results from complex molecular interactions in time and space. The secrets of these processes are yielding quickly to genetic and cellular dissection in flies, mice and other species, and finding application to human embryology. This volume presents a survey of the induction of axes, control of cell migration, and the development of the nervous system, limbs, wings and other organs, seen from the perspective of 61 investigators. It is completed by a summary that charts the future of this dynamic field.

'Patterning in Vertebrate Development' is a new volume in the 'Frontiers in Molecular Biology' series which provides a range of comprehensive, and authoritative reviews of current research into patterning, a fundamental process in developmental biology.

This book explores aspects of the development and regeneration of the of the rote nervaus system, beginning with fundamental considerations of borneobox genes in vertebrate pattern formation. Two papers em­ phasize the roJe of mause Hox genes in patterning: the Hox-2 complex in the branchial arches and Hox-7 at later stages of development, par­ ticularly in the spinal cord and brain. The importance of borneobox genes and other transcription factors in patterning the Drosophila embryo is weil known. With the discovery of homologaus genes in higher verte­ brates including man, we now possess the molecular tools to begin to investigate the molecular basis of patterning in higher vertebrate em­ bryos. Interestingly, the last few years have seen the discovery of a number of diverged borneobox genes and other transcription factors in the head, such genes being arranged in a segmental pattern within the developing rhombomeres of the brain and such compartmentalization of expression being extended to their derivatives, tagether with those of the neural crest. More recently, both Hox genes and Pax genes have been described in a segmental arrangement as far torward as the developing forebrain. The majority of the book deals with regeneration of the nervaus system. Several aspects are explored, including ways of promoting central nervous system axons to grow back into a degenerating environment, for example by the use of complex polymeric matrices.

The nervous system is highly complex both in its structural order and in its ability to perform the many functions required for survival and interaction with the environment; understanding how it develops has proven to be one of the greatest challenges in biology. Such precision demands that key events at every developmental stage are executed properly and are coordinated to produce the circuitry underlying each of the adult nervous system's functions. This volume describes the latest research on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of neural circuitry development, while providing researchers with a one-stop overview and synthesis of contemporary thought in the area. Reviews current research findings on the development of neural circuitry, providing researchers with an overview and synthesis of the latest contemporary thought in the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie the development of neural circuitry Includes chapters discussing topics such as the guidance of nerve growth and the formation of plasticity of synapses, helping researchers better understand underlying mechanisms of neural circuit development and maintenance that may play a role in such human diseases/conditions as depression, anxiety, and pain Chapters make use of a variety of human and animal models, allowing researchers to compare and contrast neural circuitry development across a wide spectrum of models