<i>“Something old, something new, something borrowed, something …. else</i>”

This symposium edition is dedicated to Robert W. (Bob) Banks. It is a collection of presentations to mark the occasion of Bob's retirement from his full-time academic post in December 2013, after more than 40 years researching into the structure and function of the muscle spindle. On 4–5 September 2014, a group of more than 50 of Bob's friends and colleagues, both old and new, gathered at Collingwood College, University of Durham to celebrate the history, discoveries and future of research associated with Bob's time in the field. A very enjoyable 2 days of presentations, posters and discussions ensued from speakers spanning both Bob's entire career and the globe. Bob began his career as an anatomist, and this is where his initial discoveries were concentrated, resulting from his hallmark of dedication to detail and logical deduction. But one of his other great strengths was to then marry these discoveries to simultaneous physiological recordings, without which the further great insights into the neuroscience of this, the most complex sensory organ after the special senses, would not have been possible. The esteem in which Bob is held is reflected in how many of his older colleagues attended, many of whom are themselves long retired, hailing from Canada, Australia and China, as well as all over Europe and the UK. The articles in this symposium edition run the entire gamut from the detailed structure of the muscle spindle, to how this relates to its electrical output and their integration into motor circuits, and then on to how these basic principles might relate to other sensory systems (mechanical and otherwise) in mammals and other animals. They span from the ultrastructural to the whole body, from the anatomical to the mathematical, and from the invertebrate to the human. All of them influencing or being influenced by Bob's work. We hope experts and non-specialists alike will find this an insightful and enjoyable read, as we have endeavoured to make the volume as accessible as possible to a wide readership. To further increase this accessibility, several of the articles are written more in the style of reminiscences than standard scientific reviews. We feel these also give insights into the passion, enthusiasm and divergent views within the research field at various times in Bob's career, rather than simply reviewing the findings in the purely formal scientific format, fascinating though these findings are in themselves. This collection, therefore, represents a comprehensive view of our current understanding of the mammalian muscle spindle, how it relates to both other types of mechanosensory terminals and to other primary mechanosensation systems in other animals. We hope that you will enjoy reading this collection of works as much as we have compiling and editing it. It only remains to thank all those involved in helping us to compile this special volume. Most importantly, we thank Alex Probert, the Biophysical Sciences Institute and the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences of the University of Durham, without whose hard work, experience, funding, logistical support and co-ordination activities, the Mechano-‘reception’ simply would not have happened. We also thank for financial support the Physiological Society, who also designated the meeting a ‘Special Symposium’, and our industrial sponsors. Finally, we thank the Journal of Anatomy, especially Tom Gillingwater and Edward Fenton, for their unstinting support and patience as we amateurs have muddled through the process of compiling this invaluable collection.

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