Most scientists agree that the 21st century will be the "Century of
Biology". The revolution that started a few decades ago with the
extraordinary develop- ment of molecular biology, has provided the basis
for the understanding of the mechanisms that govern life through the
regulation of cell function and cell-to- cell interactions. Neuroscience
will surely be one of the biological disciplines that will profit the
most from this revolution. Neuroscience comprises the study of the
brain, and the more difficult relationship of brain and behavior. It is
indeed a very broad field of investigation that, from molecular biology
and genetics, passing through systems physiology, functional mapping of
the brain, and even human behavior, has as the ultimate goal the
understanding of how the brain works. The importance of this aim is
immense, since it is the only scientific approach to understanding
ourselves. Today, owing to the great progress made in neuroscientific
research, there is a real hope that highly complex processes such as
sensory perception, ICTlg- term memory, learning and others will soon be
comprehended in their entirety.