This study shows that permanent cell lines can be established from rat and mouse brain by direct tissue culture methodology without the aid of exogenous chemical or viral transforming agents. These cells were derived from specific areas of the brain, such as the cerebellum and hippocampus, at chosen times during fetal and neonatal development. Success in establishing neuronal cell lines was dependent upon the use of selection pressures designed to keep the background of glial cells and fibroblasts at a minimum. These manipulations included care in the choice and processing of the original tissue, utilization of cytotoxic anti-glial sera, and continuous manual isolation of cells with neuronal morphology. Slow-growing nerve cells were thus allowed to adapt spontaneously to culture with a minimum of competition from faster-adapting cell types. Many of these cell lines are judged to be neuronal on the basis of their electrical excitability and their characteristic surface antigens. The cells respond positively in a sodium flux assay which has been shown to correlate well with the ability to generate an action potential, and also express one or more of three antigens previously found to be specific for nerve cells.