This volume is a multi-disciplinary characterization of the somatosensory system - a field that has experienced revolutionary changes in recent years through the accumulation of basic and clinical data. For example, the discovery of the interaction between the nervous system and the immune system has changed our view on the development of inflammatory diseases, while the cloning of genes encoding different trophic factors boosted studies revealing profound changes in the regeneration of neurones, and the induction of changes in phenotype.