ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the data available which have linked the neuropeptide with: the regulation of sleep-wake cycles in normal and depressed subjects, the induction of abnormal excitatory brain activity and seizures. It describes the interactions with other central nervous system (CNS) activating or sedating drugs, in an attempt to develop a preliminary hypothesis on how endogenous neuromodulatory compounds may modulate brain states. In addition, there is increasing evidence that hypothalamic neurohormones may also act centrally as neurotransmitters or neuromodulators and in this capacity alter brain excitability. The findings that central administration of corticotropin releasing factor can produce behavioral activation, lightening of electroencephalographic (EEG) monitored sleep, and at higher doses seizure kindling, suggests that it may play an important role in a brain system important for the regulation of brain activation states. Several lines of evidence suggest that a constellation of EEG monitored sleep abnormalities exists in the vast majority of depressed patients.
