This book is a collection of papers describing some of the first attempts to apply the techniques of recombinant DNA and molecular biology to studies of the nervous system. We believe this is an important new direction for brain research that will eventually lead to insights not pos- sible with more traditional approaches. At first glance, the marriage of molecular biology to brain research seems an unlikely one because of the tremendous disparity in the histories of these two disciplines and the problems they face. Molecular biology is by nature a reductionist approach to biology. Molecular...