The effects of neuropeptide Y and sigma ligands (d-NANM and JO 1784) on corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and psychological stress-stimulated caecal and colonic motility were evaluated by electromyography in rats equipped with chronically implanted electrodes on the caecum and proximal colon and a small catheter into the right lateral ventricle of the brain. Exposure to a psychological stress for 30 min increased significantly (P less than 0.05) the frequency of caecal and colonic spike bursts, an effect which was mimicked by intracerebroventricular administration of CRF (300 ng/kg). Injected intracerebroventricularly, 30 min prior to the psychological stress or intracerebroventricular administration of CRF, neuropeptide Y (150 ng/kg) abolished the excitatory effect on caeco-colonic motility. Similarly, prior administration of d-NANM (100 ng/kg) and JO 1784 (50 ng/kg) abolished the caeco-colonic hypermotility induced by psychological stress and intracerebroventricular injection of CRF. Four days after intracerebroventricular administration of pertussis toxin (150 ng/kg), both neuropeptide Y and JO 1784, when administered centrally, were unable to antagonize the stress-induced hyperkinesia. It is concluded that central administration of neuropeptide Y and sigma ligands abolish the stimulatory effects of psychological stress on caeco-colonic motility by blocking the pathways by which CRF activates the motility, through a common mechanism involving a pertussis toxin-sensitive Gi protein.