Since the last symposium on "Neuronal Mechanisms of Hearing" held in Prague in 1980 and published in the volume of the same name (J. Syka and L. Aitkin, Eds., Plenum Press, 1981), remarkable progress has been achieved in the understanding of the auditory system. A variety of new ideas and new methods have emerged. This progress can be easily documented by comparing the volume based on the 1980 Symposium with the program for the 1987 Symposium. For example, there were 45 contributions to auditory physiology in each symposium but there were 27 contributions focusing on anatomy in 1987 as...