This two-volume work contains the full text of the oral and poster presentations and the general discussion at the round table discussion of the Second International Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases: Basic and Therapeutic Strategies, held at the Kyoto Park Hotel in Kyoto, Japan, on November 6-10, 1989. The First Conference was held at the Aviya Sonesta Hotel in Eilat, Israel, on March 24-27, 1985. The record of this First Conference was published by Plenum Press in 1986 as Volume 29 in Advances in Behavioral Biology, under the title "Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases: Strategies for Research and Development." We are happy that the comprehensive texts of the oral and poster presentations of the Second Conference could again be published within the framework of this series. Since the First Conference in 1985, rapid progress has been made in both basic and 'therapeutic aspects of these diseases. About 700 scientists from allover the world participated in the Second Conference, and 300 papers were presented in oral and poster sessions.
Many people and organizations have helped to organize this multi- disciplinary international conference and hence have contributed to the scientific quality of these two volumes. We thank the members of the organizing committee, the organizations that provided financial support, and the contributing scientists for their enthusiastic participation. These two volumes follow the same publishing philosophy as the volume derived from the First Conference. They span a broad spectrum of topics and bridge preclinical and clinical concepts related to these diseases.