81-1

KK/yk

Professor emeritus Alf Brodal
Anatomical Institute
University of Oslo
Karl Johans gate 47
Oslo 1, Norway 24 January 1981

Dear Alf,

Yesterday, I sent you separately a copy of the revised version of our pontocerebellar paper with autoradiography. We submitted the manuscript to J.c.N. last November and it returned to us two weeks ago with some comments in which the importance of shortening the text and eliminating some of the illustrations was stressed. In the revised manuscript, we reduced the number of the Figures (from 14 to 10, by 30%) and text-pages (from 47 to 39, by 17%) and fried to make the manuscript more readable. I hope you will find it better than the previous one on which you and Per kindly gave me your comments (with your letter of September 22nd, 1980). We have made a brief reference to findings of the pontocerebellar projection in other species (monkey and opossum) in Footnote 1 (p.20, 34) as it was there in the previous manuscript. The reviewer did not ask us to write in the main text.
Reviewers’ decision was “acceptable with suggestions for revision not requiring rereview”, and Dr. Sanford L. Palay wrote me that he will forward it (revised manuscript) on to the publisher.
I wonder if you could kindly take your time to read through the manuscript and give me your comments. I should be most grateful if you could accept my request, then I will feel peace of mind even if the manuscript is sent to the publisher without rereview at the editorial-bord of J.c.N.
I am sorry I only write this here, but I will write you more in the next mail later. Takako, and I also, often speak of Inger and you and we really want to see you again.
With our best wishes to Inger and to yourself from three of us.

Yours cordially,

(Koki Kawamura)
　

81-2

AB/G March 2, 1981

Professor Koki Kawamura
Department of Anatomy
School of Medicine
Iwate Medical University
Morioka 020
Japan

Dear Koki,

I have read the new version of your paper with Hashikawa with great interest and with pleasure. As you will see, I have only a few suggestions for a different wording in some places.

This is a very careful and well documented study. It is gratifying that in general the results agree well with our HRP studies. When I looked at your illustrations in Fig. 2, it struck me that there were so few larger labeled granules in Fig. 2E (flocculus), as contrasted for example with Fig. 2C (crus�U). This brought my thoughts to go back to the findings presented much earlier concerning differences in the shape of ending of mossy fibers in the flocculonodular lobe and other parts of the cortex (Brodal and Drablos, J. comp. Neurol. 121: 173, 1963), KH 4 and 8 are from the N.r.t. I wonder whether a similar tendency can be seen in the pontine cases? If so, this finding might deserve mention, perhaps in a footnote. One would expect, however, from the Golgi pictures etc. presented by us, that you would find the most massive terminals in the flocculonodular lobe.

I would like to congratulate you upon this study, which is also clearly written and very readable. I have let Per look at it also, since he is particularly interested in the pons.

The manuscript is returned separately by air mail.

With kind regards and thanks for your letter which arrived today,

yours,
Alf
A. Brodal
　

81-3

KK/yk

Professor emeritus Alf Brodal
Anatomical Institute
University of Oslo
Karl Johans gate 47
Oslo 1, Norway 28 March 1981


Dear Alf,

Thank you very much for your letter of March 2nd and for reading through our manuscript with your kind comments and corrections. It took about two weeks to complete the manuscript and we sent it back to Professor Palay. I sent you a copy yesterday. Concerning the types of mossy fiber terminals ? thank you for your suggestion ? we made a footnote (cf. p.19, 34). It would be of interest if one can show some evidence that most of the terminals from the vestibular nuclei may belong to the “nodular” type.
I have been very busy in these weeks. Our academic and fiscal years end in the end of this month. Takako is now visiting her mother and sisters with Yoko, and I am occupied with some jobs related to the students. In the meantime(?), I made with my young colleagues two papers: 1. Thalamocortical projections to the middle suprasylvian sulcus area (HRP). 2. Trigeminotectal projection with HRP and amino acids label.
I have written letters to Springer Verlag in Berlin and in Heidelberg asking for the copies of our review articles, but there is no response from the publisher. Could you please tell me the correct address of the Springer for ordering copies of the review-paper, if you can easily find it?
Congratulations on your new Text-book!! It is really wonderful and very useful for all of us studying in the field of neurosciences. It reminds me of your figure working at the desks full of papers at your home and office.
Thank you again, with my best wishes,

Yours,

(Koki Kawamura)
　

81-4

AB/G April 6, 1981

Professor Koki Kawamura
Department of Anatomy
School of Medicine
Iwate Medical University
Morioka 020 Japan

Dear Koki,

Thank you for your letter of March 28th and the manuscript on the pontocerebellar projection. I believe this paper will be a valuable addition to our knowledge of this subject. I understand that you are rather busy at present, and I shall be interested to hear of your result concerning the Trigeminotectal and Thalamocortical projections.

I appreciate your kind comments on “Neurological Anatomy”. I hope the book will indeed turn out to be of value for colleagues in various fields of neuroscience.

As to the address for ordering copies of our review, this is listed below. As an author I believe you will get a 40% reduction. I did so, but I am not sure whether it was due to my being editor or author.

I have been wondering whether you or I should be sending a copy to Ito and to Maekawa. Since you have not yet received additional copies, I will send a copy to each of them.

Per and I are now about to finish a study of the olivocerebellar projection in three additional monkeys, which were injected with HRP. It is interesting, but of course to be expected, that the general principles appear to be as in the cat, although there are minor species differences.

Spring is slowly approaching here now, fortunately. All is well with us and the family. Please give Inger’s and my kind regards to Takako and Yoko.

Best wishes,
Address of Springer: yours,
Springer-Verlag Alf Auftragsbearbeitung Bucher (A. Brodal)
Heidelberger Platz 3
1000 Berlin 33
Germany/W
　

81-5

11 April 1981(?)

Dear Alf,

Thank you for your kind letter of April 6, that I received just now. Since today is Saturday, I am quickly writing this.
I have sent a copy of our review article only to Masao Ito, but to no other person. I will order additional copies to Springer again (since I have not received any answer/response back from the publisher concerning the copies. Thank you for letting me know the address.
Double labeling technique is working now in my lab in the cat ponto-cerebell. projection. It’s our initial stage, so I am happy to inform you the results in later mails. Please give our best wishes to Inger and Per.

Yours cordially,
Koki
　

81-6

KK/yk

Professor emeritus Alf Brodal
Anatomical Institute
University of Oslo
Karl Johans gate 47
Oslo 1, Norway
25 April 1981

Dear Alf,

I appreciate your kind comments and encouragement on our pontocerebellar paper with autoradiography. I am waiting for the decision from the editor of J.C.N. I hope Prof. Palay will accept it.
I have ordered 30 copies of our olivocerebellar review article, writing a letter to the address you told me. Please let me know if you have sent them to Ito and/or Maekawa, I can send them to each of them although it will take some time before I get copies from the publisher. As a happy memory, I would like to send you a copy with my cordial thanks and signature.
Under separate cover, I sent you the results of our recent study, published in several journals by my colleagues (Konno, Chiba, Sugiyama and Ogasawara worked in my lab for 2-3 years, as a postodoctoral fellow and all of them are now clinicians; neurosurgeons, general surgeon and neuroophthalmologist). During these years I really had busy, but happy days with them, and realized the difficulty of educating people who are not “specialist” in anatomy.
In recent years, I have been gradually interested in the morphological approach to the “schizophrenia”, but now only reading leisurely the papers at the fire-side in the evening, ? perhaps you may know I had clinical experience as a psychiatrist ? and from April next, research fellow(s) may come to my department for 2 or 3 years. Don’t you think it is a good idea working with them (to say more accurately, give him or them thema related to the morphological study of, e.g. accumbens or ventral tegmental area (and nigra)? If the situation will become like this, part of my some coming days will be a preparatory period for connecting basic science with psychiatry. This has been one of my dreams. I would appreciate very much if you could give me your kind comments and advices on my future “dream” to be tackled, mentioned above. I confess that the schizophrenia attracts me so much as, no less degree as, the cerebellum, cerebral cortex….
Since, as kindly introduced by your guidance, I am really interested in the cerebellum and the superior colliculus, may I ask you to let me read the new article of the primate olivocerebellar projection with Per when it is finished?
Our pontocerebellar job in the cat with the double labeling technique will probably take some time ? I have a duty of teaching dissection for students from May to the middle of July.
Spring has come here at last. Takako excuses for her being lazy in writing an “English” letter to Inger. We send you our warmest greetings to Inger and to yourself,
and to your family.
With best wishes,

Yours,
Koki
(Koki Kawamura)
　

81-7

AB/G May 18, 1981

Professor Koki Kawamura, M.D.
Department of Anatomy
School of Medicine
Iwate Medical University
Morioka 020
JAPAN

Dear Koki,

Thank you for your letter of April 25th and the enclosed reprints.

Replying in the order you mention matters in your letter I may first inform you that I have sent copies of our review to Ito and Maekawa.

I fully realize your problems of teaching anatomy to colleagues who are not acquainted with the morphological approach to problems. I have read the reprints and copes of papers to be published with interest, and note that they represent elucidation of further points in subjects studied earlier.

I understand that you are fascinated by the aspect of studying schizophrenia morphologically. I would believe that at present this is little rewarding. For many reasons, one being that it would require human material. One can scarcely work with one or other of the animal “models” of schizophrenia. Is there really tenable evidence that the nucleus accumbens, for example, bears a close relation to the psychic changes occurring in schizophrenia than a lot of other cerebral areas? I am sorry, that, when you ask for my advice, I can only strongly dissuade you from tackling the problem of the morphology of schizophrenia. I think, there is a far greater chance of obtaining results of interest if one sticks to morphological problems of a simpler kind. One might well concentrate on the nucleus accumbens, for example, but I feel it would be unwise to try to relate this to schizophrenia.

I hope you are not too disheartened by my scepticism about this project. We all have had our solving big problems. When I started working seriously with neuroanatomy, I had a dream of studying the pathology and anatomy of cerebral vascular accidents. I have never regretted that I followed Jan Jansen’s advice to give that up. I am sure, that if I had started on this project, nothing or very little new would have resulted from 40 years work in the field. Personally I feel, that for you the most profitable way would be to continue work on the subjects with which you have already much experience.

Under separate cover I am sending you a copy of Per’s and my first paper on the olivocerebellar projection in the monkey. It is accepted in the J.C.N. A continuation is submitted to Exp. Brain Res. a fortnight ago.

We have had a nice spring this year. Yesterday, our National Day, was favoured by very good conditions. You remember certainly the Children’s procession?

Please give Inger’s and my best regards to Takako.

With all good wishes to you both,

from yours,
Alf
Inger and Alf
(A. Brodal)

P.S. I just received the last reprint and the manuscript of the thalamocortical connections by you and Naito. I will see if I can get some time to look at it. There are scarcely many points to be corrected upon if I have had it previously.
　

81-8

KK/yk

Professor emeritus Alf Brodal
Anatomical Institute
University of Oslo
Karl Johans gate 47
Oslo 1, Norway 12 June 1981


Dear Alf,

Thank you very much for your letter of May 18th, giving me your kind advice concerning the morphological approach to schizophrenia, and also for giving me a copy of your recent paper on the monkey olivocerebellar projection in JCN with Per.
I understand, and I also think that it will be wise to continue works in the fields which I am familiar, and that I may not be too young to tackle with a new formidable subject which requires considerable knowledge of neurochemistry and clinical experience as well. Following your advice, I will not think seriously upon this subject for myself further. I am very grateful to you also for letting me hear a story of Jansen’s advice to you to give up the morphological study of cerebral vascular accidents.
But, when the situation comes passively in future, I would be happy to have someone (psychiatrist) around me who is interested in the mesolimbic system.
I am sorry that I could not write you earlier, expressing my gratitude for your kind advice. And I have to stop writing here, since I have to study the structure of organs in the pelvis for preparing the lecture and dissection for coming few days.
Two happy news. 1) Our pontocerebellar paper has now been accepted in JCN. 2) On every Tuesday morning, I give my lecture on Neuroanatomy using your new text-book. This means it is a happy duty for me to read through every chapter in a week, thinking and talking with you facing the pages. Partly I translate into Japanese, partly I make summary notes. It is very useful and gives me much delight. Now I am in Chapter 7. In careful reading I noticed some errors in the printing which I will inform you later.
With my and Takako’s very best wishes to Inger, Per and to yourself.

from Yours,

(Koki Kawamura)
　

81-9

KK/yk

Professor Alf Brodal
Anatomical Institute
University of Oslo
Karl Johans gate 47
Oslo 1, Norway 15 August 1981

Dear Alf,

I have just talked with Fred in the telephone, and I am happy to say that I visit you in Oslo 9-11th of September, 1981.
After the Neurobiology Meeting in France, I will reach Oslo from Frankfurt on the Wednesday (9th) afternoon (time is morning. Although it is a short stay, I am very happy to see you and would be very grateful if you could kindly find your time to discuss with me. I will bring some recent findings with me on the pontocerebellar projections.
Here in Morioka, we have very good sunny days this summer, and we spent some days in the mountains and at the sea-side. Yoko is now 9 years old and has enjoyed herself very much. Takako always says that she has to write to Inger. We very often talk about you and I regret that I cannot visit you together with Takako and Yoko.
I will be in Morioka till 24th of August, and in the end of this month I will leave Japan for France.
With best wishes to Inger and yourself from Takako, Yoko and myself. Really, very much looking forward to seeing you!!

Yours,

(Koki Kawamura)
　

81-10

26 Aug. 1981
Dear Alf,

I will arrive at Oslo 12:45 of 9th (Wed) of Sept. (by SK632 from Frankfurt)　and leave Oslo 8:20 of 11th (Fri) (by SK511 for London).

I enclosed a sheet if paper on which comments and corrections of your new text-book are written. I have noticed of them, when I was reading the book before this summer for preparing my lecture. I have found the book very useful. I enclose this sheet as an expression of my deep gratitude.
Very much looking forward to seeing you and Inger again! Warm greetings from Takako, Yoko and myself.

Yours,
Koki

(Text-book の訂正の表を同封せり)
　

81-11

p.t. Tuddal, Aug. 19th, 1981
Dear Koki,

Inger and I are delighted to hear that you will be coming to Oslo for a few days in September, although it will be a short visit. I hope this letter reaches you in time, so that you can inform us of the flight number and time of arrival. We expect that you will stay with us, and as you know, we have a guest-room ready for you.
In case we do not receive your reply and information in time, so that I can not be a t the airport to meet you (or this can not be arranged for other reasons) you take a taxi to our address: Prestasen 14. It would then be preferable to have a taxi with the letter C (for example C-321) on its roof. These taxi-drivers are from Barum (our community) whereas the A-taxi are from Oslo and the driver does often not know the roads in Barum). Taxis are, unfortunately, rather expensive here.
We would like very much to gather some of our and your friends at our home in the evening of Thursday (10th). If you would give us the time of departure on Friday (11th) this might be good with regard to planning. We may probably spend most of Thursday in the department. If it suits you I believe an informal seminar about the pontocerebellar projection and your recent findings will be of interest.
As you understand we are now in our cottage in the mountains where we have been since Aug. 2nd. The weather has been fine so far (in contrast to most of July) and we are having a good time. Last week two of our grandchildren (Anne Brit’s Kalvor, aged 9 and Kari and Per’s Oyvind, aged 8) stayed with us. The activity and noise of two boys at that age was sometimes rather much for the grandparents, but on the whole we spent some very pleasant days with them. We plan to stay here for another week or so, before we return to Blommenholm, to find a neglected garden and to return to more usual activities.
We are very much looking forward to seeing you again, dear Koki. If Takako and Yoko could have come with you it would have been even nicer, but much things are not easy to arrange, as we well know. Please give them our best regards, and give also our best wishes to your mother. And to you a heartily welcome to Oslo and best wishes for a nice and profitable journey.

Yours as ever
Inger and Alf
Professor Koki Kawamura
c/o Mrs. Utako Kawamura
3-1-18 Sakura-machi
Tsuchiura 300 Japan
　

81-12

19/Sept. ’81
Dear Inger and Alf,

Thank you thousand-wals, mange, mange takk for your kind hospitality and thoughtfulness shown me at Blommenholm, in the field, lovely house and concert hall!
I really felt as if I spent at my home. So enjoyed I was in your party. I missed the chance to make a thankful speech. I am very sorry.
Takako and Yoko are very glad to have your wonderful presents, and of course I am also, and we heartily express our thanks and send you our best wishes. They say that they will not allow me to come to Oslo alone next time ? I have to save money!
Tomorrow, I will meet Inger-Helen and Bodvar at Kyoto and will arrange the visit to Morioka. We are very happy to spend together in our peaceful local town. Yesterday and today, I phoned to Holiday Inn, but unfortunately could not have a talk.
As for me, I will participate in a workshop on Central Nervous Mechanism of Motor Control organized by Sasaki and Shimazu. Jones and Evarts will come from USA.
I miss now the experiments of fluoresent double labeling that will be done in the end of this month.
Thank you again, and best wishes and worm greetings to you, your children and grandchildren from three of us.

Yours
Koki, and Takako, Yoko
　

81-13

AB/G September 28, 1981

Professor Koki Kawamura, M.D.
Department of Anatomy
School of Medicine
Iwate Medical University
Morioka 020
JAPAN


Dear Koki,

Thank you for your last letter. We are glad that you enjoyed your brief visit to Oslo. And so did we. It was very nice to meet you again, and we would have liked you to stay longer. We hope that next time you will be able to come together with Takako and Yoko and to make your stay somewhat longer.

It may interest you to learn that shortly after you had left I had a letter from the editor, Mr. Jeffery House of Oxford University Press, telling me that by that time the sale of “Neurological Anatomy” had reached 5,300 copies, and that they would in the near future have to prepare a second printing of the book (first printing 8,000). He asked for a list of discovered errors and misprints in the text, in order that they might be corrected in the new printing. Your list will thus become useful much earlier than I had expected. If at your convenience you will send me a list of other errors which you may have noted, I will be grateful.

We had a postcard from Inger Helene a few days ago. At that time she had not yet got contact with you, but we hope this problem has been solved satisfactorily, and that she has made the proposed visit to Morioka. She tells very briefly of interesting days in Japan, and we look forward to hear details from her and Bodvar when they return one of the first days of October.

Please give my best regards to Takako and Yoko. A letter from Inger will follow.

With all good wishes,

yours,
Alf
(A. Brodal)
　

81-14

7　November 1981
Dear Inger and Alf,

Thank you very much for your kind letters to Takako and me. We are so happy to read them and Takako is especially glad to read Inger’s thoughtful two letters, the both arrived safely; Takako will write you separately, perhaps with her favorite picture.
We enclose here pictures taken at your home this time, these refreshes our memory and your very kind considerations. The photos are gifts from us to you and also to Inger-Helene and Anne Brit, and to Per. Those for Fred, Helga, Hjalmar Wergeland and others will soon be sent to each address.
Congratulations for the new printings with the correction of misprintings of your text-book. I will write you a list of other errors, if I found later, perhaps in a month.
My mother was and is very glad to have your kind gift of the book. He is particularly impressed by the beautiful picture (colour tint, shape idea etc.) of the front-cover of a partially broken egg. Since, she says, she has not written a letter in foreign language for many, many years, she asked me to send her very best wishes and thankfulness.
Best regards also to Inger-Helene and Bodvar.

Yours,
Koki (Takako, also)

P.S. writing of a cerebello-tectal paper is almost finished. I hope I can send you in a week.
　

81-15

27　November 1981
Dear Inger and Alf,

I am writing this from Nagoya. I came here to give a lecture of association cortex in Nagoya Neuroscience Academy Club tomorrow.
Thank you very much for your kind letter and an enclosed picture of your garden. Before coming here Takako and I were talking to write a joint-letter to you, but could not. And decided to do separately at the same time from two different parts of Japan.
We are really surprised at the news of the operation of Hernia inguinalis, Inger had. But soon glad that it went well and you are now good in condition. We got an impression from your letter, dear Inger.
Your water-colour-painting is put in a wooden frame and hung in our living-room. With all our visitors, we talk and enjoy upon your art, dear Alf, and we are always happy.
I sent you some days ago our cerebello-tectal paper (manuscript) asking you if I could hear your comments. This is from one part a continuation of our work, and from other point is so-to- speak a by-product. But I wish to publish this in some journal.
Several days ago I have sent pictures (snaps) of the very enjoyable party, you kindly given to me, to each participant. It was a very nice, memorable evening!!
I have a rather serious problem now. A medical publisher asked me to write a text-book of Neuroanatomy in rather free style in Japanese. Half I accept it, half I hesitate to do it. For accepting this, there will be merits as well as de-merits. I have to consider seriously the pros and cons. As a research worker, I feel that it’s formidable. As a teacher, I think it’s a chance to take time for the writing. Could you frankly tell me your “old” ? I mean when you decided to write the first book ? experience? (when you have leisure time.)
Well, good night, so long, with best wishes,

Yours,
Koki
　

81-16

10/11 ? 81
Dear Takako, dear Koki,

We received the most charming letter and lovely pictures from you today. Many many thanks! We did need something to encourage us today, because it is a dull November day and I have had an operation (Hernia inguinalis) and I stayed in the hospital for 5 days. I am already much better, so I do not want to complain. Still your letter and pictures were extremely welcome!
It is so kind of you to send pictures to the children! I can send Pies best greetings and many thanks! Per came here today and he prepared a delicious dinner for his parents!
We have had the first snow and the roads are slippery here and there. After the operation Alf and I made the first tour a few days ago. It was nice to come out in fresh air.
On one of the pictures, you can see how charming the umbrella skirt is to me, Takako, and it looks ever more smart with a dark blue blouse or cardigan. Again thank to you!!
Alf will write a few words. Best wishes and love to all of you.
Yours, Inger


Dear Takako and Koki,
I second Inger’s words and can affirm that it was very nice to have the pictures from your party, Koki. You have indeed managed to get all people present, except yourself, on these pictures.
We enclose a picture from the garden with the Campari-bottle on the table.
It may interest you that Jan Egil Wold had his doctor’s disputation a week ago, and in the evening he gave a nice party in the Medicinsk Selshap.　　　　　 Unfortunately Inger could not come on account of her operation. Irena will be leaving for U.S.A., probably permanently, to work with Kitai. Otherwise there are no major changes in the department. I am being rather lazy at present, after I finished the revision of my Norwegian textbook of Neuroanatomy.
It is quite nice for a time (but not for too long, I believe) to be lazy. Nenne and Anne Brit have urged Inger and me to write down memories from our childhood, a job on which I have just started. So there is something to do after all, in addition to the daily business.
I add to Ingers’ my best wishes for you both and for Yoko.

Yours,
Dr. and Mrs. Kawamura Alf
SAN NO-CHO
7-37 MORIOKA
020, JAPAN
　

81-17

AB/G November 25, 1981

Professor Koki Kawamura, M.D.
Department of Anatomy
School of Medicine
Iwate Medical University
Morioka 020
JAPAN

Dear Koki,

I have read through your paper, as well as the accompanying copy of Roldan and Reinoso-Suarez’s publication.

As usual your documentation of your findings is appropriate and carefully done. I have suggested some changes in the working at some places. I understand that your main problem is whether you have paid due tribute to Roldan and Reinoso-Suarez’s paper. I felt that the appearance of this necessitates some further comments than you have made.

A main point is their demonstration of a topical pattern in the projection. This may well be correct. In the first place there is no doubt that the Mesulam technique which they used, is far more sensitive than the Graham-Karnowsky. This may explain that in some regions you found less labeling than they did. Since their injections, furthermore, were smaller than yours, it is explicable that the somatotopic pattern was not evident in your material. I think the pattern described by them should at least be referred to in your paper.
On the whole your and Roldan and Reinoso-Suarez’s findings are in fairly good agreement, but I wonder whether some of the discrepancies, for example concerning labeling in the NIA, are due to different sites of the infections in the two materials. I have not gone through the papers in detail from this point of view, but it may be worth while to do so. Perhaps it will be possible to explain some of the discrepancies in this way?

As you are, of course, aware, the numbers of labeled cells in different cases, may not be reliable indices of which projection is most massive (e.g. NM or NL). If there is a topical pattern in the projection, as a priori appears likely, this may further be of importance to explain discrepancies.

A particular point in your study, not clearly shown before, is the participation of the small-celled parts of the nuclei in the cerebello-tectal projection. This should be included in the summary, likewise the presence of some projection to other structures as the interstitial nucleus etc.

I believe it will not be too difficult to insert the appropriate comments to the points I have mentioned. I feel that comments on the problem of the methods and the sites of the injections would enhance the values of your paper. I would not be astonished if a careful comparison between your and Roldan and Reinoso-Suarez’s material might give results of interest, and perhaps explain some discrepancies as being more apparent than real. (Cf. our work on the olive with scrutiny of relevant cases of Groenewegen and Voogd.)

You may of course do as you prefer in a revision of your paper. I have given you my comments frankly, and I hope they may be of some use to you.

With kind regards,

yours,
Alf
A. Brodal


P.S. I do not return the copy of Roldan and Reinoso-Suarez’s paper. Your manuscript and figures are sent separately as printed matter.
A.B.
　

81-18

Dec. 6th 1981
Dear Koki,

Thank you for your letter from Nagoya. Apparently this has crossed my letter with the comments to your paper, and I hope I remembered at that time to thank you for the nice pictures from our party. The children were also delighted to have them.
I can well understand your dilemma concerning the writing of a textbook of Neuroanatomy. Textbook writing is rather laborious and time-consuming; not as you may understand, I have found it worth while to spend some time in such labors. A good text-book will certainly heighten your renown among medical colleagues and especially among the neuro-people. But if you do it, you should certainly strive to make it a good one. If it is a success, you will have relatively little trouble in revising it for new editions (I have just finished a revision of my Norwegian text-book for a 4th edition). A good sale will also make the royalty run up in sums that may not be negligible.
As to my own experience, it is somewhat different from what you will have to face. During the war I have a series of lectures for the students in their neurology term, with emphasis on the clinical relations to anatomy. In somewhat changed form, these lectures appeared as a book Neuroanatomi in 1943. This was the basis of the first English edition, which appeared in 1948 in Oxford. I worked on it (I was prompted to this undertaking by some British colleagues) during our stay in Oxford 1946-47, and got help from a British friend in the department of Anatomy with improvements of my English. This was the book which Okamoto translated into Japanese. Unfortunately, shortly after it had appeared there was a fire in the storehouse of the Kinpodo Publishing House, and as far as I know, only few copies had been sold at that time. Maybe Okamoto knows details about this.
When I returned to Norway I was asked to teach Neuroanatomy to psychology students, this was the impetus to the preparation of the Norwegian, smaller, textbook, Central nerve systemet, its structure and feature of its function. In this (printed in 1949) more emphasis was put on the physiology than in the English edition, since there was no textbook in neurophysiology that was suitable. It turned out that the book was appreciated and used also by medical students and physiotherapists, and not only in Norway but also in Sweden and Denmark. Then there was a second edition in 1963, reprinted in 1964 and a third edition in 1974, reprinted 1977 and 1979. The fourth edition is being printed in the beginning of 1982.
As you will understand, the beginning and hardest part of the work took place rather gradually over some time. One good feature of writing a textbook is that you are forced to consider also other aspects than those in which you are engaged scientifically. This is an advantage from the point of view of your own orientation and further for your teaching.
I do not know if these remarks are of much use to you, but you will probably not be surprised if my conclusion is that I believe it may be worth while for you to spend some time (say in sum about half a year) in preparing a textbook. This does not mean that you have to put aside research entirely during the preparation. Let it better take some more time to be finished with the book and let the concomitant research be a distraction between hours spent in the tiresome and hard work with the book.
Well, so much for text-book writing. Since the New year is rapidly approaching I finish this letter by wishing you all three a happy 1982, and with best wishes also from Inger.

Yours,
Alf

P.S. Please thank Takako from Inger for her letter and the photos. She will write　later. It may interest you that yours and Takako’s letters reached us in the same mail! We found them together in our mail box.