Corticotropin-releasing factor in the dorsal raphe nucleus: Linking stress coping and addiction.

ABSTRACT: Addiction and stress are linked at multiple levels. Drug abuse is often initiated as a maladaptive mechanism for coping with stress. It is maintained in part by negative reinforcement to prevent the aversive consequences of stress associated with abstinence. Finally, stress is a major factor leading to relapse in subjects in which drug seeking behavior has extinguished. These associations imply overlapping or converging neural circuits and substrates that underlie the processes of addiction and the expression of the stress response. Here we discuss the major brain serotonin (5-HT) system, the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN)-5-HT system as a point of convergence that links these processes and how the stress-related neuropeptide, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) directs this by a bimodal regu

SUBMITTER: Valentino RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2819581 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature