This monograph examines in detail the expression of growth-associated protein (GAP-43), a determinant of neuronal plasticity, in the spinal cord during postnatal development as well as in the adult state under normal conditions and after various lesions. It thus provides comprehensive insight into the anatomical distribution of plastically active neuronal structures in this part of the central nervous system and fundamentally expands our knowledge of spinal cord function from both a neurobiological and clinical perspective, particularly in neuromedicine.

Dr. Uwe Hans Wiese, founder and former chief physician of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Carl-Thiem-Klinikum Cottbus (Academic Teaching Hospital of the Charité Berlin), winner of the 1994 Ludwig Guttmann Prize of the German-speaking Medical Society for Paraplegiology (DMGP), and former member of the Scientific Committee of the International Spinal Research Trust (ISRT), teaches neuroscience at the European University of Flensburg.