Abstract
This review highlights two emergent themes in stress neurocircuit control of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis. First, excitation and inhibition of neurons controlling stress hormone release appear to be conveyed by stressor-specific pathways that fall into two loose categories: processive (or neurogenic) stressors, which are the end-product of processing of exteroceptive cues, and systemic stressors, which relay information on disruption of internal homeostasis. Second, a good deal of stress integration may be occurring by way of local hypothalamic circuitry, which may mitigate actions of limbic pathways and even ascending brainstem systems proximal to stress-initiative neurons. The literature suggests that stress integration is a convergent process that is channeled through local hypopthalamic circuits prior to elaboration of a neuroendocrine stress response.

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