The administration of cocaine to rats causes the release of adrenocorticotropin hormone
(ACTH). The observation that immunoneutralization of endogenous corticotropin-releasing
factor (CRF) significantly blunts this response has suggested the importance of CRF-
dependent pathways in this response. As the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the
hypothalamus represents a major source of the CRF delivered to the pituitary, the present
studies investigated the role of this hypothalamic nucleus in mediating cocaine-induced …