This special issue of Epilepsia is a collection of presentations that were made at the eighth Workshop on the Neurobiology of Epilepsy (WONOEP VIII) in 2005 at Villiers-le-Mahieu, France, just before the International Epilepsy Congress in Paris. WONOEP is an official satellite meeting of the International Congress. Its primary goal is to bring together clinician investigators and basic scientists to present and discuss recent research results in an informal setting that encourages discussion during the sessions as well as outside of them. The value of these meetings is difficult to calculate with regard to moving our understanding of epilepsy forward. However, bringing a group of epilepsy researchers together in a place where they remain focused on the issues of the mechanisms of epilepsy, and providing them a chance to discuss the results and new ideas, invariably stimulates new ideas for future clinical and laboratory research. It is the stimulation of new ideas, which is the ultimate benefit of this and similar meetings. Each WONOEP is focused, although not exclusively, on a theme. The theme for WONOEP VIII was “developmental issues of epilepsy.” As the reader will rapidly see, even within that defined focus, the number of potential directions for investigation is overwhelming. The papers range from an examination of gene expression to the changes in receptor and channel expression to work on intact brains. There are discussions on the varying effects of seizures and drugs on the developing brain and how those effects are different than in adults. Some papers examine factors that may influence the susceptibility of the brain to develop epilepsy. Others report on the role that varying changes in the brain may play in the development of epilepsy associated with cortical dysplasia. Some papers present data on how seizure activity affects gene expression as well as the expression of channels and receptors. Although each paper is narrowly focused, this overall collection of papers provides a broad overview of the many issues and approaches that are involved with, and brought to bear on, solving the problem of epilepsy. One of the aspects of the WONOEP meeting—and this Epilepsia supplement—that distinguishes it from standard research publications is the degree to which philosophical musing and hypothetical speculation is allowed. It is the goal of this meeting to encourage the sharing of new ideas and the development of new research directions. For this reason, the authors of these papers are given a bit more latitude in what they present—in comparison to what would normally be permitted in a standard peer-reviewed publication. Nevertheless, all these papers have been peer-reviewed, and revised by the authors to respond to the critiques of the reviewers. It is the intent of the authors and editors for these papers to reflect the atmosphere of the meeting itself. We hope that the reader will view this publication in that light and find some of the atmosphere of the meeting itself in these pages. We wish you many productive new thoughts and ideas as you read the articles.