This book provides a comprehensive summary of data from basic and clinical studies in support of a role for corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) as a neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). It includes descriptions of the anatomy of CRF and its receptors in the CNS, as well as the characterization of CRF receptors and the second messenger systems mediating effects of CRF in the brain. It discusses the autonomic, behavioral, and electrophysiologic effects of CRF administration in the brain. This work also includes a section which covers the role of brain CRF in the etiology and pathophysiology of a variety of neurologic, psychiatric, and endocrine disorders. Endocrinologists, brain researchers, and neuroendocrinologists are among those who will find this reference both useful and interesting