Abstract:
The rising consumption of alcohol in Western societies and subsequent alcoholrelated
life problems that develop has been labeled a major health and social issue.
Finding an effective treatment for alcohol dependence has been faced with difficulty, as
this is a complex phenomenon that has its roots in a variety of factors. Anxiety and stress
have a strong correlation with alcohol intake behavior, and cyclic bouts of alcohol
drinking and withdrawal lead to enhanced anxiety reactivity. Recently, two
neuromodulators have been implicated in the regulation of anxiety and ensuing alcohol
intake: neuropeptide Y (NPY) and corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) both of which
exert their effects on the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA), a structure implicated in
anxiety disorders. This review examines how these two neuromodulators interact, the
cellular and molecular mechanisms by which they exert their effects, how these
mechanisms affect neuronal excitability within the CeA, and how ethanol relates to both
NPY and CRH which will hopefully answer questions with regards to the
neurophysiology of alcohol intake behavior.
