Chapter 24: the coming of molecular biology and its impact on clinical neurology.

Although the chemical study of the nervous system dates back well into the 19th century, molecular biology and especially molecular neurobiology only began to be established in the second half of the 20th century. This chapter reviews their impact on clinical neuroscience during the 50 years since Watson and Crick published their seminal paper. After a short review of the part played by F.

Chapter 9: understanding the nervous system in the 18th century.

The 18th century was an age of transition. The time-honored neuropsychology of classical and medieval times, mechanized in Descartes' hydraulic neurophysiology, was undermined by microscopical observations and careful physiological experimentation. Yet it was not until the very end of the century, when work on electric fish and amphibia began to suggest an acceptable successor to "animal spirit," that the old understanding of human neurophysiology began to fade.

Density and cross-sectional areas of axons in the olfactory tract in control subjects and Alzheimer's disease: an image analysis study.

Objective: Using an image analysis system to determine whether there is loss of axons in the olfactory tract (OT) in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Design: A retrospective neuropathological study.

Patients: Nine control patients and eight clinically and pathologically verified AD cases.

A quantitative analysis of optic nerve axons in elderly control subjects and patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: To study the density and cross-sectional area of axons in the optic nerve in elderly control subjects and in cases of Alzheimer's disease (AD) using an image analysis system.

Methods: Sections of optic nerves from control and AD patients were stained with toluidine blue to reveal axon profiles.

Results: The density of axons was reduced in both the center and peripheral portions of the optic nerve in AD compared with control patients.

The genius of Erasmus Darwin. The International Conference and Commemoration of the Bicentenary of the Death of Erasmus Darwin was held in Lichfield, Staffordshire from 19-22 April 2002.

In a concluding session, David Knight (University of Durham) took the title '"One great slaughter-house the warring world"--living in revolutionary times'. He pointed out that Darwinian thought had to contend with three revolutions. First, the political revolutions of 1776 and 1789, leading to the terror of the 1790s that washed over the English Midlands leaving Priesley's house burnt and Priestley himself exiled to America.