which was devoted to the topic of genetic and neurological influences on dyslexia, or reading disability (RD). This conference would not have been possible without the vision and generosity of Per Udden and the Rodin Remediation Foundation, who have been unique catalysts in fostering an interdisciplinary understanding of dyslexia or RD.
This conference was special both scientifically and personally. Scientifically, this was the first time that most of the world's experts on the genetics and neurology of RD all gathered at the same meeting, although subsets of these research communities have met at previous meetings. Moreover, because of recent advances in both fields, the outlines of a complete neuroscientific understanding of this prevalent, complex behavioral disorder was finally within our grasp; the proof of this perhaps bold assertion is contained in the papers that follow. The 1990s had been dubbed "The Decade of the Brain" and this meeting was one of several fitting inaugurals of this decade.
Personally, this was a poignant occasion because one of the world's pioneers in reading research, Isabelle Liberman, had died unexpectedly a few months before. The conference included a tribute to her. Her close collaborators, Don Shankweiler and Susan Brady, both delivered moving reminiscences about her life and work. Alvin Liberman, her husband and fellow scientist, was there to be part of that tribute. As Isabelle certainly would have wished, he also attended the conference and served as a stimulating, ad hoc discussant, presenting the views on reading that Isabelle, he and other co-workers have so impressively developed. He also contributed a formal discussion to this volume. Sadly, another loss followed the conference. Karen Gross-Glenn, a cognitive scientist working on visual and neuroanatomical differences in RD in collaboration with Herbert Lubs, died in November, 1990. She was one of the presenters at the conference, and will be sorely missed.