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During the second half of the 20th century,
the study of the nervous system moved from a peripheral position
within the biological and psychological sciences to become an interdisciplinary
field called neuroscience. The new discipline brought biochemists,
cell biologists, anatomists, physiologists, psychologists, neurologists,
and psychiatrists—scientists and clinicians from diverse backgrounds—all
drawn to the promise and excitement of studying the brain. They
aimed to discover the mechanisms of neuronal function, elucidate
the neural substrates of behavior and cognition, and learn about
the diseases of the nervous system. The development of the
discipline was catalyzed in 1969 by the formation of the Society
for Neuroscience, which now has nearly 37,000 members. The
first academic training programs for neuroscience were established
in medical schools (the Department of Neurosciences at the University
of California, San Diego in 1965 and the Department of Neurobiology
at Harvard University in 1966). The first undergraduate training
programs in neuroscience were established in 1972 at Amherst College
and at Oberlin College, alma mater of Nobelist Roger Sperry and three
Past-Presidents of the Society for Neuroscience. Today, there
are more than 300 neuroscience departments and programs around the
world.
The Encyclopedia of Neuroscience is intended to catalog
and explicate the rich, diverse subject matter of the discipline
and to facilitate communication among its subspecialties. It
is meant to be an authoritative source of information for all areas
of neuroscience. It will hopefully make neuroscience more accessible
to a wide range of readers, from students making their first acquaintance
with the field to general readers seeking information about specific
topics. It should also serve as a useful reference for working
neuroscientists and be useful as well to undergraduate and graduate
students in neuroscience training programs, teachers in the life
sciences, clinicians, and science writers.
The Encyclopedia of Neuroscience appears in 12 volumes
and includes nearly 1500 entries. The full work will also be
published on-line at Science Direct, which can be accessed with subscription
at sciencedirect.com. To assemble the entries, the Senior Editors
identified 46 major areas of the discipline and then invited 46 Associate
Editors, all experts in their field, to survey the content of neuroscience
within each of these areas. Each Associate Editor then invited
30 to 40 authors to prepare articles on specific topics, with the
objective of obtaining complete coverage for each area. Many
of the authors are the recognized leaders in their field. The
result is a compendium of expert articles representing the current
world of neuroscience—the most important research, the most
powerful tools, and the most promising applications.
Most of the entries are self-contained reviews that can be read
as independent articles. Extensive cross-listing at the conclusion
of each entry directs readers to articles on related topics. The
principal organization of the Encyclopedia lies in the alphabetically
arranged list of entries. In addition, the comprehensive subject
classification will help readers find related topics and appreciate
the structure of the discipline.
While no single reference work in neuroscience can claim to include
every notable idea and fact about the brain, the Senior Editors hope
that these volumes provide a summary of contemporary neuroscience
that is both comprehensive and instructive. Neuroscience is
still a developing field, but the Encyclopedia will have
succeeded if it conveys the considerable promise that neuroscience
offers for conquering the diseases that affect the nervous system
and for understanding the brain, the mind, and ourselves.
The Senior Editors are grateful to the Developmental Editors at
Elsevier, Michael Bevan and Joanna de Souza, and the Editorial Assistant,
Caroline Phipps, for capably managing the formidable task of assembling
and organizing the contents of the Encyclopedia. Andrew
Lowe, the Production Product Manager diligently brought both the
print and on-line versions of the project through its several stages
of production.
Larry R. Squire
Editor-in-Chief
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