CRH and alcohol dependence: Indeed, chronic intermittent exposure to alcohol in Wistar rats leads to alcohol dependence and increased alcohol intake in association with increased extracellular CRF levels during withdrawal (6), depletion of amygdala CRF tissue content (3, 55), elevated CRF1 expression in the basolateral and medial amygdala (56), and potentiation of GABA and glutamate release in the central amygdala (57, 58).