Also, it has been observed that exogenously applied CRF induced excitotoxicity of interneurons (Aldenhoff et al., 1983; Bishop and King, 1992), which suggests that CRFR antagonists may be effective in providing neuroprotection in the hippocampus following seizure (Maecker et al., 1997) and after cerebral ischemia (Lyons et al., 1991). The gene discussed is CRH; the disease is brain ischemia.