Study sections of the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Neuroscience [MDCN] IRG review applications on the structure and function of neuronal, glial, and other excitable cells, as well as the development of both the central and the peripheral nervous systems, inclusive of the visual system and other excitable cells. Excitable cells, in addition to neural cells, include endocrine and neuroendocrine cells, pancreatic beta-cells, chromaffin cells, muscle cells, neuromuscular junctions, etc. Areas of interest include the functional characteristics of ion channels, the mechanisms by which extra- and intracellular signals are transduced and the functional characteristics of the transducers themselves, general mechanisms underlying the process of cell death, analyses of neural cell lineage, factors that specify or influence neuronal migration pathways or axonal pathfinding, processes that involve the maturation of neurons and glia, the formation of patterns and boundaries that lead to the development of adult brain regions and nuclei, and other aspects of the basic cellular and molecular physiology of neurons and glia. Applications reviewed in the MDCN IRG may be relevant to disorders or injuries, but their emphasis lies more in revealing the basic biological processes that underlie or may be altered in disorder than in treating the disorder or its manifestations.

The MDCN IRG also has Special Emphasis Panels for the review of fellowship and SBIR/STTR applications as well as neurotechnology, bioengineering, neurogenetics and neuroinformatics applications.