REVIEW article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Neuroendocrine Science
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring Neuroendocrine Mechanisms in Psychiatric and Metabolic ComorbiditiesView all 6 articles
Neuropeptidergic systems in psychiatric disorders
Provisionally accepted
Therese Riedemann1*
Sadat Hodzic2- 1Institute of Physiology and Pathophysioplogy, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
- 2Department of Physiological Genomics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen, Munich, Germany
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Neuropeptides represent a heterogeneous class of signaling molecules whose release has initially been described in the hypothalamus. Their release often follows a circadian rhythm and basal release may be enhanced by internal and external stressors. Research on the cellular actions of neuropeptides began in the hypothalamus but progressed to the entire brain following observations of neuropeptide and neuropeptide receptor expression throughout the brain. Recent research suggests that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) exhibits particularly high levels of neuropeptides and neuropeptide receptors suggesting that they may modulate cognitive processes necessary for executive function. However, most data on the cellular actions of neuropeptides are derived from non-cortical cells and their relevance to PFC-dependent behaviour is currently not understood. This review aims to bridge the gap between cellular and network actions of neuropeptides and their relevance to behaviour and mood disorders. Therefore, this review summarises the function of the PFC and highlights the effects of selected neuropeptides on cortical processing and PFC-dependent behavioural output. Where available, we compare the actions of neuropeptides in the rodent brain to the human brain and review potential therapeutic benefits of neuropeptides in PFC-dependent neuropsychiatric disorders.
Keywords: Neuropeptides, Prefrontal Cortex, Depression, orexin, Oxytocin, Somatostatin, Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide, Neuropeptide Y
Received: 26 Jun 2025; Accepted: 27 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Riedemann and Hodzic. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Therese Riedemann
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