The third Symposium of the Foundation for Life Sciences was held in February 1983 at the Newport Inn Conference Centre in Sydney. It was direced towards an understanding of the molecular neuropathology of muscle and nerve under a wide variety of conditions that may be induced by external agents or genetic lesions. The first session on experimental neurology explored the processes involved in maintenance of nerve and muscle function. This included many papers on myelination, studies on immune reactions affecting nerves, on synapses, and on neuronal development. This section was expanded to explore the control of muscle function in nerves, including a discussion on cross reinnervation. Toxic models of disease in the nervous system were then discussed, including pathological states induced by physical agents such as kainic acid, diphtheria toxin, and IDPN. A new dimension was added to the Symposium when for the first time psychologists participated and contributed to the session on external stressors and their effects on behavior. Heavy metals, herbicides, repetitive work, anxiety, and their effects on behavior and health were all represented. The discussion in this session attracted much interest from the participants, particularly the basic scientists.

I. Experimental Neurology.- The Regulation of Schwann Cell Function in Degenerative Disorders of the Nervous System.- The Sympathetic Nervous System: A Novel Perspective on the Control of Myelinating Schwann Cells.- The Schmidt-Lanterman Cleft in the Myelin Sheath: Studies in Chicken Nerves.- Interaction Between Neuronal Sets During Brain Development.- Maturation of Post-Synaptic Densities in Chicken Forebrain.- Immune Diseases of the Peripheral Nervous System.- Factors Underlying Ascending Paralysis in Rodents during Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE).- The Influence of Upper Motor Neurones on Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Mammalian Skeletal Muscle.- Effect of Electric Fields on Nerve Regeneration and Functional Recovery in the Cat Hindlimb.- Properties of Cross and Self-Reinnervating Motor Axons in the Cat.- Morphometric Assessment of Peripheral Nerve.- II. Toxic Models of Disease.- Selective Defects in Axonal Transport in Neuropathological Processes.- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Toxic and Animal Models.- Excitotoxins.- Toxic Effects of Glutamic Acid Analogues on Retinal Neurons.- III. Behavioral Neurology.- Stress Hormones and Health.- Stress and Work Behaviour.- Stress, Catecholamines and Ischaemic Heart Disease.- Herbicides and the Development of Brain and Behaviour a Study in Behavioural Toxicology.- The Effects of Heavy Metal Exposure on Behaviour.- The Effect of Stress on Central Nervous System Protein Phosphorylation and Cyclic AMP.- IV. Neuromuscular Pathology.- Physiological Mechanisms for the Regulation of Protein Balance in Skeletal Muscle.- Therapeutic Strategies for Protein Wasting States.- Skeletal Muscle Fiber Bundles for the Study of Protein Turnover in Normal and Dystrophic Mouse Tissue.- The Effect of the Loss of Weight-Bearing Function on the Isomyosin Profile and Contractile Properties of Rat Skeletal Muscles.- Lipoproteins in Plasma of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Patients and Female Carriers.- Trophic Influences of Nerve on Skeletal Muscle Sarcolemma.