This book is the proceedings of an International Wenner-Gren Center Foundation Symposium on "Excitotoxins" held at the Wenner-Gren Center in Stockholm on August 26 and 27, 1982. We are particularly happy that so many of the leading scientists in this field have been able to participate in this symposium. Since the book on "Kainic Acid" appeared in 1978 edited by Dr. McGeers and Dr. John Olney there has been an explosive interest in the research on neuroexcitatory and toxic amino acids. We therefore feIt the time was right to bring the leading experts in this field together by organising a symposium on "Excitotoxins". In this way we hoped to have a penetrating and friendly discussion on the mechanisms underlying the neuroexcitatory and neurotoxic properties of excitotoxins and their relationship to the glutamate and aspartate neuron systems of the brain. In Sweden we have previously had a symposium on "6-hydroxydopamine as a denervation tool in catecholamine research" held in Goteborg, Sweden, July 17-19, 1975 and organized by Drs. Gosta Jonsson, Torbjorn Malmfors and Charlotte Sachs.
This symposium illustrated the considerable interest Swedish neuroscientists have had on highly specific neurotoxins, such as 6-hydroxydopamine, 5,6-dihydroxytryptamine and 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine; neurotoxins, which can produce damage to a certain type of transmitter-identified neuron. However, the neurotoxins, kainic acid and ibotenic acid represent another type of an invaluable tool in the experimental studies on brain function.