Near the end of september 1980, the contributors to hormonally active brain pep tides: structure and function met to discuss their chapters for the monograph. this meeting was the eighth sponsored by the international foundation for biochemical endocrinology and was held at the hotel plakir in dubrovnik, yugoslavia. several months were allowed after the meeting for the contributors to revise their manuscripts and for editing. professor dr. vladimir pantie and the serbian academy of sciences and arts were in charge of the local arrangements and social activities. the foundation is grateful for the splendid job that was done and for the out­ standing scientific, cultural, and social activities. i thank the serbian acad­ emy of sciences and arts and the yugoslav council of academies for spon­ soring my stay in yugoslavia. i greatly enjoyed giving lectures, visiting laboratories, and discussing research projects in a number of centers in yugoslavia. a diverse group of topics was presented in dubrovnik concerning cer­ tain brain peptides. the topics included "structure, function, and confor­ mation of neuropeptides," "distribution of peptides in the brain," "reg­ ulation of the release of peptide hormones," "the active center of gonadotropins," "in vitro synthesis of hypothalamic hormones," "stud­ ies on gonadotropin-releasing hormone," "studies on the biosynthesis, release, and degradation of lh-rh," "genesis and properties of pitu­ itary acth, prolactin, and growth hormone producing cells," "precur­ sors to oligopeptide hormones," and "stress effects on peptide hormone synthesis.