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[...] These words of G. Elliot Smith (1897b) recount the origins, going back over 100 years, of the concept of a "limbic system" which is distinct from the cerebrum as a whole. The system was named Rhinencephalon by Sir William Turner (1891) because of the close association of some of its components with the organs of olfaction. The most extreme border of the "limbe" or "hem" of the hemisphere comprises the hippocampus. The regular serrations of its dentate gyrus cause it to resemble the primitive sea animal of the same name. Interest in this in-folded, single-layered strip of archi-cortex, bulging into the lateral ventricle, has grown exponentially since those early beginnings. [...]

Since the demonstration of the presence of acetylcholine in the animal body by Dale and Dudley in 1929 (20) an extensive and complex amount of experimental work has been done to determine the role of ACh in neurophysiological processes. In 1933 Dale (19) coined the terms cholinergic and adrenergic to describe nerve fibres which act by release of either ACh or noradrenaline and adrenaline. He suggested using the terms cholinoceptive and adrenoceptive to denote sensitivity to the two transmitter substances. [...]

This study is concerned with the demonstration of the immunochemical specificity of central and peripheral nervous system antigens. Early observations of occasional "neuroparalytic" accidents following immunization with rabies vaccine containing nervous tissue antigens gave rise to speculations that immunological reactions could lead to clinical disease (Stuart, 1925). In subsequent years, neurological syndromes following inoculation of various vaccines, injections of foreign serum or associated with certain infectious diseases such as measles have become increasingly recognized (Miller, Stanton and Gibbons, 1956). These hypersensitivity reactions affect various parts of the nervous system resulting in encephalitis, myelitis or neuritis. In addition, many spontaneously occurring neurological disorders such as the Guillain-Barré syndrome (Melnick, 1963) and neurological complications associated with the collagen disorders are suspected of being the result of hypersensitivity reactions (Gell and Coombs, 1964). [...]

The classification of gliomas has always presented difficulties due to the wide range of variations found even among the gliomas of the same type, thus making it necessary to create subgroupings of complex diversity. This has been done by several authors from the time the classification progressed from a physical to a histogenetic basis and it became necessary for investigators to create complex subgroupings. [...]

A physiological distinction between the sensory transmission and integration of attended from non-attended stimuli is still awaited. We do not know "...what happens in the brain when the attention is directed one way or another..." In fact, neurophysiologists are still trying to establish the more basic distinction between sensory transmission and integration in wakefulness as opposed to sleep. [...]

Panta rei - said Heraklitus, everything in in this world is constantly changing. This is especially true of living organisms. Their ability to adapt themselves to changes within and without is very remarkable, and it provides the best possible way of life and reproduction. [...]

It was a stroke of good fortune that Camillo Golgi, in 1872, examined some pieces of brain which were hardened in Muller's fluid and afterwards dipped in silver nitrate solution. As a result of this, Golgi developed a new method which was to bring about a new era in the investigation of the nervous system. [...]

The tract of Lissauer has long been associated with pain, but the exact pathway of this important sensation has been far from clear. [...]

Perhaps it is fair to say that since the commencement of the study of neuropathology, one of the main problems occuping the minds of investigators has been the healing of cerebral wounds. During the first half of the 20th century this field became a practical clinical problem of paramount importance, due in large measure to the development and expansion of neurosurgical technique and the association of cerebral wounds with a high incidence of epileptic seizures following the two world wars. [...]