Corticotropin-Releasing Factor in Brain function

Abstract

Abstract: The corticotropin‐releasing factor (CRF) has been associated with two major functions since its discovery in the early 1980’s. The first major role of CRF is to function as a hormone released from the hypothalamus to activate the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis during stress. The other impor- tant role of CRF, which is also known as the extrahypothalamic function, is to mediate the response to stressful conditions of many other brain regions, involved in emotional and cognitive processes, such as dorsal raphe nucleus, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and ventral tegmental area. Since the HPA axis has been well studied and the extrahypothalamic function of CRF is relatively new, this chapter focuses more on the CRF acting as a neuropeptide, especially in cortical and subcortical limbic areas. Understand- ing the physiology and pathology of CRF in the central nervous system (CNS) could provide more opportunities to find treatment for the stress‐related neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression and anxiety