Spinal Afferent Processing

Some 29 scientists from the fields of neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neu- rophysiology, neuropharmacology, and behavior have contributed their ef- forts to this testimonial on behalf of the contributions made by Dr. F. W. L. Kerr to science and to those with whom he interacted. The intention of the contributors to this volume was to deal with the manifold advances that pertain to the substrates in spinal cord relating to the processing of sensory infor- mation, a subject that in one form or another provoked time and again Kerr's native enthusiasm for research. The organization of the book follows a natural course from the peripheral innervation of the somatic and visceral organs (Winkelmann, Chapter 2) to the effective stimuli that activate these fibers and give rise to sensation under normal and pathological conditions (Campbell and Meyer, Chapter 3; Dubner and colleagues, Chapter 13; Dyck, Chapter 14) to the course these afferent systems take to enter the spinal cord (Coggeshall, Chapter 4) and to the organization of the systems through which this afferent information reaches the brain (Willis, Chapter 11; Vierck and colleagues, Chapter 12).