Pituitary stalk

Information about Pituitary stalk

Brain:
Pituitary stalk not labeled, but is the vertical blue portion.
Latininfundibulum neurohypophyseos
subject #189 813
NeuroNameshier-388
MeSH Pituitary+Stalk
Dorlands/Elsevier i_08/12451615
Also see infundibulum for other uses of the term.
The pituitary stalk (also known as the infundibular stalk or simply the infundibulum) is the connection between the hypothalamus and the posterior pituitary.

It carries axons from the magnocellular neurosecretory cells of the hypothalamus down to the posterior pituitary where they release their hormones into the blood.

This connection is called the hypothalamohypophyseal tract, and is responsible for the release of oxytocin and antidiuretic hormone.

Additional images


The sinuses at the base of the skull.

Median sagittal section of brain. The relations of the pia mater are indicated by the red color.

Drawing of a cast of the ventricular cavities, viewed from the side.

The hypophysis cerebri in position. Shown in sagittal section.

Vertical sections of the heads of early embryos of the rabbit. Magnified.


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Brain: diencephalon
EpithalamusPineal body • Habenula (Habenular nuclei)
Hypothalamus
SubthalamusSubthalamic nucleus • Zona incerta • Thalamic fasciculus • Lenticular fasciculus
Thalamus/nucleiVentral nuclear group (VA/VL, VP/VPM/VPL) • MD • AN • LNG (Pulvinar) • Intralaminar nucleus (Centromedian nucleus) • Midline nuclear group • Thalamic reticular nucleus • Metathalamus (MG, LG) • Interthalamic adhesion
Third ventriclerecesses: (Optic recess, Infundibular recess, Suprapineal recess, Pineal recess) • Hypothalamic sulcus
OtherInterventricular foramina • Optic chiasm • Subfornical organ • Mammillothalamic tract
Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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NeuroNames is a system of nomenclature for the human and/or macaque brain.

It is maintained by the University of Washington and is a part of a tool called "BrainInfo". BrainInfo helps one identify structures in the brain.
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Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a huge controlled vocabulary (or metadata system) for the purpose of indexing journal articles and books in the life sciences. Created and updated by the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), it is used by the MEDLINE/PubMed
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Elsevier, the world's largest publisher of medical and scientific literature, forms part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has substantial operations in the UK, USA and elsewhere.
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An infundibulum (Latin for funnel; plural, infundibula) is a funnel-shape cavity or organ.
  • Lungs: The alveolar sacs of the lungs from which the air chambers (alveoli) open are called infundibula.

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The hypothalamus links the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland (hypophysis). The hypothalamus, (from Greek ὑποθαλαμος = under the thalamus) is located below the thalamus, just above the brain stem.
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The posterior pituitary (or neurohypophysis) comprises the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland and is part of the endocrine system.

Anatomy

The Posterior Pituitary Gland
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axon or nerve fiber, is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, that conducts electrical impulses away from the neuron's cell body or soma.

Anatomy


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Magnocellular neurosecretory cells are large cells within the supraoptic nucleus and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. They are also found in smaller numbers in accessory cell groups between these two nuclei, the largest one being the nucleus circularis.
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hormone (from Greek όρμή - "to set in motion") is a chemical messenger that carries a signal from one cell (or group of cells) to another. All multicellular organisms produce hormones (including plants - see phytohormone).
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Blood is a specialized biological fluid consisting of red blood cells (also called RBCs or erythrocytes), white blood cells (also called leukocytes) and platelets (also called thrombocytes) suspended in a complex fluid medium known as blood plasma.
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Tract may be a reference to:
  • tract (anatomy), a bundle of nerve fibers following a path through the brain, or a collection of related anatomic structures (e.g. gastrointestinal tract, genitourinary tract).

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Oxytocin (ŏk'sĭ-tō'sĭn) (Greek: "quick birth") is a mammalian hormone that also acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. In females, it is released in large amounts after distension of the cervix and vagina during labor, and after stimulation of the
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Arginine vasopressin (AVP), also known as argipressin or antidiuretic hormone (ADH), is a hormone found in most mammals, including humans. One of its most important roles is to regulate the body's retention of water, being released when the body is
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The pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea that sits in a small, bony cavity (sella turcica) covered by a dural fold (sellar diaphragm) at the base of the brain.
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In sciences dealing with the anatomy of animals, precise anatomical terms of location are necessary for a variety of reasons. Non-scientists often wonder why zoological and human anatomists use complex terminology to describe locations on a body, when common terms like "up",
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eMedicine is an online clinical medical knowledge base that was founded in 1996 by Scott Plantz and Richard Lavely, two medical doctors. It was sold to WebMD in January 2006.
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In animals, the brain or encephalon (Greek for "in the skull"), is the control center of the central nervous system, responsible for behavior. The brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the primary sensory apparatus of vision, hearing,
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The diencephalon is the region of the brain that includes the thalamus, hypothalamus, epithalamus, prethalamus or subthalamus and pretectum. It is derived from the prosencephalon. The diencephalon is located at the midline of the brain, above the mesencephalon of the brain stem.
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The epithalamus is a dorsal posterior segment of the diencephalon (a segment in the middle of the brain also containing the hypothalamus and the thalamus) which includes the habenula, the stria medullaris and the pineal body.
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The pineal gland (also called the pineal body, epiphysis cerebri, or epiphysis) is a small endocrine gland in the brain. It is shaped like a tiny pine cone, and is located near the center of the brain, between the two hemispheres, tucked in a groove where the
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In neuroanatomy, habenula originally denoted the stalk of the pineal gland (pineal habenula; pedunculus of pineal body), but gradually came to refer to a neighboring group of nerve cells with which the pineal gland was believed to be associated, the habenular nucleus.
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habenular nuclei are not labeled directly, but after expanding, look to region with 'habenular commissure', 'pineal body', and 'posterior commissure' ]]

The habenular nuclei
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The hypothalamus links the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland (hypophysis). The hypothalamus, (from Greek ὑποθαλαμος = under the thalamus) is located below the thalamus, just above the brain stem.
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The Anterior hypothalamic nucleus is a nucleus of the hypothalamus.

Its function is thermoregulation (cooling) of the body.


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The paraventricular nucleus (PVN) is an aggregation of neurons in the hypothalamus, which produces many hormones.

Location

It is adjacent to the third ventricle (hence the name of the nucleus.
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The preoptic area is a region of the hypothalamus. According to the MeSH classification, it is considered part of the anterior hypothalamus.

Functions

The preoptic area is responsible for thermoregulation and receives nervous stimulation from thermoreceptors in the skin,
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The supraoptic nucleus (SON) is a nucleus of magnocellular neurosecretory cells in the hypothalamus of the mammalian brain. The nucleus is situated at the base of the brain, adjacent to the optic chiasm, and, in humans, it contains about 3,000 neurons.
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The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is a region of the brain, located in the hypothalamus, that is responsible for controlling endogenous circadian rhythms. The neuronal and hormonal activities it generates regulate many different body functions over a 24-hour period.
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The median eminence is part of the inferior boundary for the hypothalamus part of the human brain. A small swelling on the tuber cinereum posterior to the infundibulum - atop the pituitary stalk - the median eminence
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