Frog Neurobiology

Book excerpt: In review, the amount of information available on the morphological and func tional properties of the frog nervous system is very extensive indeed and in certain areas is the only available source of information in vertebrates. Further more, much of the now classical knowledge in neurobiology was originally ob tained and elaborated in depth in this vertebrate. To cite only a few examples, studies of nerve conduction, neuromuscular transmission, neuronal integration, sense organs, development, and locomotion have been developed with great detail in the frog and in conjunction provide the most complete holistic descrip tion of any nervous system. Added to the above considerations, the ease with which these animals may be maintained (both as adults and during development) and the advantage of their lower cost as compared with other vertebrate forms make the frog one of the most important laboratory animals in neurobiology. With these thoughts in mind, we decided to compile this volume. Our goal in doing so was to assemble as much as possible of the information available on frog neurobiology and to have the different topics covered by authorities in each of the fields represented. To keep the handbook restricted to one volume, we found it necessary to omit the large field of amphibian muscle neurobiology, which has already been summarized in various other publications.