Just over 20 years ago, the notion that nerve cells transplanted to a damaged adult brain could not only survive but also make functional connections would generally have been regarded as heretical. Since that time, however, the field of embryonic neural transplantation has grown almost exponentially and has emerged as a credible discipline. Aside from considerations of functional repair to brain damaged hosts, the technique has also been revolutionary as a tool for investigating neural development and specific aspects of neurodegeneration.

This Neuromethods volume is the 36th in an ongoing series and has an internationally acclaimed neuroscientist as first editor. In particular, Professor Stephen Dunnett was instrumental in establishing embryonic neural transplantation as an experimental technique from its earliest days in the late 1970s and has remained its leading scientific figure in the United Kingdom. The volume itself is clearly devised as a handbook for aspiring neural transplant surgeons or those wishing to hone their techniques. Rather than serving merely …