The book gives an account of results obtained from experiments where
grafts of neuronal, glial and other tissues as well as artificial
materials were placed into the spinal cord. It attempts to evaluate the
contributions made by these studies to our understanding of basic
neurobiologies questions. These include factors that regulate neuronal
growth during development as well as regenera- tion following injury to
the nervous system. The model of neural transplanta- tion is also useful
for the study of cell-to-cell interactions, and this applies to
interactions between glial cells and neurones, between various
populations of neuronal cells and finally between axons and skeletal
muscle fibres. The mecha- nisms involved in the establishment of
specific synaptic connections between neurones can also be investigated
in this experimental paradigm. Important in- formation regarding this
issue was also obtained on systems other than the spinal cord, i. e. the
cerebellum, hippocampus and striatum. Although such in- formation of
precise connections between the host and the grafted embryonic tissue is
still lacking in the spinal cord, there is much information on the re-
sponse of the host nervous system to the grafted embryonic tissue, and
that of the graft to its new host environment. It appears that embryonic
grafts are able to induce repair processes follow- ing injury to the
nervous system.
