Increasing evidence implicates CRF and its receptors in the synaptic effects of EtOH. EtOH induces release of CRF from the hypothalamus that initiates the activation of the HPA axis (Ogilvie et al. 1998). EtOH also modulates the extraneuroendocrine CRF system involved in behavioral stress responses, particularly in the amygdala. EtOH withdrawal induces an increase in CRF levels in the amygdala (Merlo Pich et al. 1995) and in the BNST (Olive et al. 2002).
