A hormone produced by the pituitary gland that stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol and other stress-response chemicals.
From Latin cortex (bark, rind) + Greek tropos (turning, direction) + -in (chemical suffix). The word literally means 'something that turns toward the cortex' and was named because it targets the cortex of the adrenal glands.
This hormone is your body's alarm system activator—when you're stressed, corticotropin tells your adrenal glands to flood your system with cortisol, which is why chronic stress can literally reshape your brain and body over time.
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