Describes research on synergistic effects of alcohol and other drugs, particularly barbiturates. Proposes biochemical mechanisms to explain alcoholics' tolerance of other drugs when sober, and increased sensitivity when drunk. (AL)

Proposes a hypothesis suggesting that parts of the central nervous system that contain norepinephrine and dopamine are dynamically interrelated under stressful conditions in a compensatory way. (MLH)

Discussed is the discovery which may help to explain epidermal growth factor effects on the cell skeleton. The role of a protein called profilin in the regulation of the microfilament system is described. (CW)

Presents a hypothesis about the biochemical processes involved in memory storage. The postulated mechanism is initiated by a signal that is unusual but not unlikely to occur and produces an irreversible change in a key component of synaptic chemistry. Other features of the mechanism and experiments supporting the hypothesis are considered. (JN)

It has recently been shown that perceived motion, in the absence of any appropriate retinal motion, is a sufficient stimulus to generate smooth pursuit eye motions. However, three experiments show that perceived motion is not necessary for pursuit, but that retinal motion always governs pursuit. (BB)

Rod-isolation techniques show that light-adapted human rods detect flicker frequencies as high as 28 hertz, and that the function relating rod critical flicker frequency to stimulus intensity contains two distinct branches. (MLH)

Advances in the genetics and cell biology of muscle development are discussed. In-vitro analysis of the renaturation, polymerization, and three-dimensional structure of the purified proteins involved is described. (CW)

The Gordon Research Conferences were established to stimulate research in universities, research foundations, and industrial laboratories. The topics for the conferences are listed as well as the locations and scheduled presentations at each conference. (CS)

Electroencephalograms were analyzed during performance of verbal and spatial tasks. Complex scalp distributions of theta-, beta-, and, to a lesser extent, alpha-band spectral intensities discriminated between the two members of a pair of tasks, such as writing sentences and Koh's block design. (Author/BB)

A conference on whether food and nutrients affect human behavior was held on November 9, 1982 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Various research studies on this topic are reviewed, including the effects of food on brain biochemistry (particularly sleep) and effects of tryptophane as a pain reducer. (JN)

The body of data indicating sex differences in the brains of almost every mammalian family examined so far (rodents, birds, monkeys, and human beings) is reviewed. The differences in the hypothalamus, thalamus, corpus callosum, anterior commissure, and the hippocampus are described. (KR)

In eighteen chronic schizophrenics, subcutaneous doses of the dopamine reception agonist, apomorphine, improved psychotic symptoms. The results are interpreted as a consequence of presynaptic dopamine receptor activationby apomorphine with a subsequent decrease in dopamine-mediated neural transmission. (Author/BB)

A new method generates specific predictions concerning the expected frequencies of aphasia after unilateral injury to the brain in the left- and right-handed. These predictions are then compared with the observed data for all known studies between 1935 and 1973 to derive the best-fitting model of hemispheric speech lateralization in the left- and…

Reviews a study which sought to obtain a quantitative metabolic map of the neurons mediating a specific memory. Research results support notions of cooperative processes in which nonrandom behavior of high ensembles of neural elements mediates the integration and processing of information and the retrieval of memory. (ML)

Offers perspectives on the role of extrinsic factors in the aging process, the long-term consequences of extrinsically initiated changes, and implications for gerontological research. Explains the distinction between usual and successful aging in light of physiologic and psychosocial characteristics. (ML)