Neuroendocrine Perspectives, Volume 7, is part of an international book series designed to keep clinicians and researchers appraised of important trends and new data in basic and clinical neuroendocrinology. It focuses on four very rapidly evolving major topics: - the role of dopaminergic regulation of the intermediate pituitary lobe in elucidating intracellular signal transaction pathways and other regulatory mechanisms involved in transsynaptic regulation of peptide biosynthesis, post-translational processing, and hormone secretion; - the physiological and clinical implications of corticotropin releasing factor for such areas as diagnosing Cushing's syndrome, defining the hypothalamic and pituitary origins of secondary adrenal insufficiency, and distinguishing Cushing's syndrome from psychiatric states associated with hypercortisolism; - the large number of neurotrophic factors that affect CNS neurons and of neurite promoting factors that modulate neuronal performance, with emphasis on their mechanisms of action and their possible therapeutic applications to peripheral neuropathies and central diseases; - and the many factors that regulate changes in female reproductive cycles during middle age, with careful distinction between neuroendocrine and ovarian components and special attention to the possible cause-and-effect relationship within the cascade of events resulting in acyclicity and infertility.

The flow of information in neuroendocrinology and related disciplines is vigorous, favored by the availability of sensitive and specific biochemical and histochemical techniques that advance our knowledge of CNS neurotransmitter and neuropeptide systems. Volume 8 of Neuroendocrine Perspectives illuminates new findings inthis areawhich add complexity to the traditional view ofthe hypothalamo- pituitary control, and to established concepts ofthe modulation ofbrain function by target hormones. In the first chapter, Ben-Jonathan exhaustively reviews evidence derived from her own work that demonstrates the importance of the posterior lobe as a regulator of prolactin secretion via two opposing influences, i. e. , dopamine released by the tuberohypophyseal dopaminergic system into the short portal vessels and a prolactin-releasing factor which is produced locally, though the identity of its innervating neurons is still unclear. Despite the wealth of information on prolactin and its cell of origin, little is known about the manner in which the hormone exerts its effects on target cells. Frawley and coworkers thoroughlyexamine the direct actions ofprolactin on a broad spectrum ofmammalian tissues, dealing extensivelywith prolactin receptors and the putative second messengers. They also review new evidence, based on their original findings, for an indirect action ofprolactin exerted through the livervia synlactin and liver lactogenic factor, two extracellular modulators ofthe biological functions ofthe hormone. The relationships among the CNS, neuroendocrine and immune systems are bidirectional and constitute an integrated loop.

This issue of Neuroendocrine Perspectives, Volume 9, begins with a fascinating aspect of neurobiology: the steroid control of vertebrate behavior, in this case aggressive behavior. In the first chapter, Schlinger and Callard, after an extensive historical perspective of the behavioral effects of steroid hormones, review results of their own and others' laboratories on the hormonal basis of individual and sex-related differences in the intensity ofaggressive displays in birds. These studies provide evidence that brain aromatase exerts considerable control over both sex-dependent and individual differences in aggressive behavior by controllingestrogenreceptoroccupancyinsteroid-sensitivebrainregions. A greatdeal ofattention has been devoted to psychological, socio economic and cultural factors as potential causes of drug abuse and dependence, whereas the information on the neurobiologic effects of drugs of abuse is rather scanty. Wand and Froehlich address this topic in an exhaustive chapter on the effects of ethanol on the release, synthesis and posttranslational processing of hypothalamo-hypophyseal hormones. In addition, in keeping with neurophysiological and epidemiological evidence of a genetic susceptibility to alcohol addiction, they present data to indicate how the neuroendocrine system may function as a marker for genetic susceptibility to ethanol addition."