This book incorporates the proceedings of the Fifth International Cholinergic Conference, which took place in Oglebay Park, West Vir ginia, USA, on October 30th to November 4th, 1983. A scenic forty five minute ride from the City of Pittsburgh, surrounded by champion ship golf courses, luxurious woods and a picturesque lake, Oglebay provided relaxed and beautiful surroundings, conducive to contem plation, stimulating discussions and, thought-provoking scientific sessions. Over 160 individuals from allover the world participated in the sessions. The meeting was sub-divided into oral presentations, round table discussions and poster sessions, and centered upon ten key topics of cholinergic relevance (see Table of Contents). Following in the tradition of the four International Conferences which had preceded this one, the Conference featured the most up to-date developments in the area of cholinergic mechanisms, and provided for ample and productive discussion of new fields and di rections in this area. Moreover, both senior investigators in the field as well as recent newcomers to this sphere of investigation participated in the proceedings. This book, touches on a wide array of mechanisms and applications - from the preclinical to the clinical level. It should thus be useful as a comprehensive resource, with the cholinergic system as a focal hub. The Conference could not have been as successful as it turned out to be, without the support of a number of important contributors.

Cholinergic Function and Dysfunction

Even if the “weapons of mass destruction” (WMD) and, among them, stocks of organoph- phorus (OP) agents (also referred to as war gases and nerve gases) were not found in Iraq following the US-Iraq war, the relative ease with which these substances can be made from harmless precursors and the low cost of their manufacture will continue to fascinate pow- hungry, ruthless dictators, as well as multinational and international terrorists, particularly as the close relationship between the OP agents and useful insecticides makes it easy to disguise the importation and purchase of small amounts of the precursors. Indeed, the use by Saddam Hussein of a nerve gas against the Kurds and his possible employment of the OP agents during his war with Iran, and the Sarin attack in the Tokyo underground by an extremist religious set magnetized the world with respect to the OP drugs. As these drugs exert their toxicity via their cholinergic action on the nervous, particularly central nervous, system, it is no wonder that the research in the cholinergic ? eld attracts, and merits, our intense attention. These considerations underlie the signi? cance of this book, as Alex Karczmar devotes an entire chapter of Exploring the Vertebrate Central Cholinergic Nervous System to anticholinest- ases (antiChEs), and as he is an acknowledged expert in the ? eld of cholinergic toxicity as well as a consultant to the Surgeon General of the U. S. Army.

First multi-year cumulation covers six years: 1965-70.

One of the most impressive works of scholarship in the field of experimental pharmacology has been the Heffter-Heubner Handbuch der experimentellen Pharmakologie, internationalized some years ago under the title Handbook 0/ Experimental Pharmacology and kept up to date by a series of numbered Ergiin zungswerke or supplementary volumes which have now replaced in importance the original Handbuch. These volumes constitute a valuable and continuously up dated multi author review series of topics important in modern pharmacology and allied sciences. The Editorial Board of the Handbook invited me 2 years ago to undertake, as subeditor, the preparation of a new volume entitled The Cholinergic Synapse. A previous volume in this series, vol. 15, Cholinesterases and Anticholinesterase Agents, edited by GEORGE KOELLE, was published in 1963 and was far wider in scope than its title suggested: it was, in fact an authoritative summing up of the whole subject of cholinergic function and still has some value today as an account of the state of the art as it was at that time. Since then another excellent review, of a specific cholinergic synapse, has appeared in this series: this was vol. 42, Neuromuscular Junction, edited by ELEANOR ZAIMIS and published in 1976. A third volume, vol. 53, Pharmacology o/Ganglionic Transmission, which appeared in 1980 and was edited by D. A. KHARKEVICH, includes important aspects of autonomic cholinergic function.

This Festschrift volume in honor of Professor Alexander Karczmar is the outcome of a three-day symposium entitled "Neurobiology of Acetylcholine" held at Loyola University Medical Center from June 3 to 5, 1985. This volume serves two purposes. It expresses the respect and admiration of the contributors to Alex Karczmar, and it provides a forum for detailing recent advances in the cholinergic field which has attracted the undivided and untiring attention of Dr. Karczmar over some 40 years. During this period, the cholinergic system has grown from its infancy to become one of the most studied and understood transmitter systems today. Dr. Karczmar's interest in cholinergic system is appropriately reflected by the range of topics, molecular, cellular, developmental, behavioral and toxicological, that were discussed here. A detailed synopsis of Dr. Karczmar's research and his contributions to the field of cholinergic systems can be found in the following chapter by his close friend and colleague, Dr. George Koelle. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the enthusiastic responses of the participants making this Festschrift a memorable event.

Centered around 20 major topic areas of both theoretical and practical importance, the World Congress on Neural Networks provides its registrants -- from a diverse background encompassing industry, academia, and government -- with the latest research and applications in the neural network field.

This book provides insights into the principles of operation of the cerebral cortex. These principles are key to understanding how we, as humans, function. The book includes Appendices on the operation of many of the neuronal networks described in the book, together with simulation software written in Matlab.