—with external sensory cues—such as food or mate availability, light and temperature, suitability for egg deposition, etc.—in the choice of what behaviors to perform at any given moment in time. This requires the development and use of richer, more sophisticated

naturalistic behavioral paradigms that will permit this behavioral choice function of neuropeptide modulation to be directly experimentally addressed. Work in the laboratory of M.N.N. is supported in part by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH) (R01NS055035, R01NS058443, SCH772984 molecular weight R21NS058330) and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), NIH (R01GM098931). Work in the laboratory of P.H.T. is supported in part by NINDS, NIH (R01NS021749), NIGMS, selleck chemicals llc NIH (R01GM085788), and the National Institute of Mental Health, NIH (R01MH067122). “
“Just as there are multiple perceptions for the proverbial blind men as to what an elephant is, there are numerous perspectives one can adopt to view neuropeptide modulation in the CNS. Here, I take the view that neuropeptide modulation in the CNS is inextricably linked with fast amino acid GABA and glutamate signaling. Many other viable perspectives exist and are not mutually exclusive. I have used a few examples of peptide

secretion and actions which may be representative of many brain regions not discussed herein; many of the examples used here are from the hypothalamus, the part of the brain where neuropeptides have Thymidine kinase been most thoroughly studied. Many important neuropeptides are not included in the review. Although the focus here is on neuropeptides, some of the mechanisms of release and many of the mechanisms of response to neuropeptides may generalize to other neuromodulators in the brain, including the catecholamines, serotonin, adenosine, endocannabinoids, and neurotrophic factors. Neuropeptides can exert direct effects on neuronal physiology within seconds to minutes, and can also modulate gene expression over the course of hours to days; the focus here is

on the direct neurophysiological actions. The nomenclature of neuropeptides can initially be confusing. Names of CNS neuropeptides often give a historical perspective indicating what the peptide-pioneers initially discovered as the putative function. Since many neuropeptides were discovered in the context of regulation of hormone release, neuropeptide names may bear that functional link. True to its name, somatostatin released into the portal blood supply of the median eminence from nearby hypothalamic neurons can decrease growth hormone secretion from the pituitary gland; on the other hand, the somatostatin-synthesizing neurons in the cortex and hippocampus have no functional relation to hormone regulation.