Current status of neurotoxicology, basic and applied

Toxic effects of substances encountered occupationally and in the general environment are of great concern. Recently, the scope of this concern has expanded to include appreciation of the nervous system as a sensitive and significant target of such xenobiotics. Methods for assessing neurotoxic effects are not well developed and in part, this state can be ascribed to a lack of awareness by toxicologists, of the advances of neurosciences, in techniques and concepts of neurobiological function. Some recent studies of clinical neurotoxicology are reviewed, and suggestions proposed for the integration of basic neurosciences with the needs for applied measures.