GHRL and Anxiety: Further, in addition to VTA and hypothalamus, GHS-R1a is also densely located in the amygdala, dorsal raphé [81–83], and hippocampus where ghrelin elevates anxiety-like behaviors in rats [84–86] and increases the response of the amygdala to alcohol cues in heavy-drinking, alcohol-dependent individuals following i.v. ghrelin [29].