Preoperative Events switches the focus from post-operative rehabilitation to preoperative experiences and personal histories to lessen the consequences of brain damage. These papers document the relationship between preoperative experience and postoperative performance and discuss a variety of protective preoperative experiences that can ameliorate the deleterious effects of brain damage.

Contents: T. Schallert, Preoperative Intermittent Feeding and Drinking Regimens Enhance Postlesion Sensorimotor Function. J. Schulkin, The Effects of Preoperative Alimentary Experiences on a Regulatory Neurobehavioral System. C.V. Grijalva, E. Lindholm, B. Roland, Recovery of Function Following Lateral Hypothalamic Damage: The Influence of Preoperative Manipulations. D. Singh, Preoperative Manipulation and Ventromedial Hypothalamic Syndrome (VMH). E.D. Kemble, Modulatory Effects of Environmental and Social Interactions on the Behavior Expression of Amygdaloid Damage. P.J. Donovick, R.G. Burright, An Odyssey in Behavioral Neuroscience: A Search for Common Principles Underlying Responses to Brain Damage. D.J. Albert, G.L. Chew, M.L. Walsh, Social Experience and Lesion-Induced Predation. D.S. Olton, A.L. Markowska, The Effects of Preoperative Experience Upon Postoperative Performance of Rats Following Lesions of the Hippocampal System. E.E. Krieckhaus, Preoperative Training Provides No Protection Against Lesion-Induced Decrements in Explicit Processes. J.B. Overmier, Sparing, Loss, and Recovery of Function in the Telencephalon Ablated Teleost Fish. J.P. Ward, The Use of Overtraining in Striate/Extrastriate Lesion Deficit Analysis. J.J. Braun, Experimental Amnestic Sensory Agnosia: Preoperative Modulation. F. Lepore, The Effects of Preoperative Overtraining on Inter-Hemispheric Transfer. J. Grafman, F. Lalonde, I. Litvan, P. Fedio, Pre-Morbid Effects Upon Recovery from Brain Damage in Humans: Cognitive and Interpersonal Indexes. Commentary 1.B. Kolb,Commentary 2.Preoperative Events and Brain Damage: A Commentary. E. Stellar,Commentary 3.Commentary on the Protective Effects of Preoperative Experience. J. Schulkin, A Commentary as a Suggestion.