This volume arose from a discussion meeting entitled "Applied Psychophysiology in Cardiovascular Research: Clinical and Methodological Issues" held in May 1984 in Linz, Federal Republic of Germany. The meeting was orga- nised by the Commission of the European Communities' Con- certed Action on Quantification of Parameters for the study of Breakdown in Human Adaptation, in conjunction wi th the Department of Internal Medicine, Uni versi ty of Bonn. The Concerted Action is part of the Medical and Public Health Research Programme of the CEC, and its pur- pose is to encourage multidisciplinary research into the development, refinement and standardisation of parameters used to measure psychosocial, physiological and endocri- nological aspects of breakdown. This meeting is one of a series in which detailed consideration is given to spe- cific methodological issues within the field of research linking stress with disease. However, the contributions to this book have been extended and restructured consid- erably since their presentation at the meeting. Addition- al chapters have been prepared that address important is- sues which were not discussed at the meeting itself. The editors are grateful to the Commission of the Europe- an Communities and the University of Bonn for their sup- port, and also acknowledge the financial assistance of Bayer AG, Ciba/Geigy, Hoffman-La Roche, Boehringer Ing- heim and Ver1a-Pharm. We extend special thanks to Sue Wilson for the care with which she has prepared the manu- script for publication.