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Hypothalamus
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The hypothalamus is a region in the ventral, or lower, part of the brain, and its job is to coordinate the endocrine system, the set of glands that communicate through hormones.
It does not do this on its own. It works with the pituitary, the gland that hangs just below it, through what is called the hypothalamic-pituitary axis. To do that, it secretes into the blood releasing and inhibiting hormones, that is, orders to switch something on or off, and those hormones travel to the anterior pituitary, its front portion. It is a control panel that does not carry out the work itself: it sends the order to the gland below, and that gland passes it along.
With the back portion of the pituitary the relationship is different: vasopressin and oxytocin are made in the hypothalamus itself and reach the posterior pituitary by traveling inside neurons. And not everything it does is hormonal: it also helps regulate body temperature and appetite.
In brief
The hypothalamus is the ventral brain region that coordinates the endocrine system.
It works with the pituitary through the hypothalamic-pituitary axis: it secretes releasing and inhibiting hormones into the blood, and they travel to the anterior pituitary.
A control panel that does not carry out the work itself: it sends the order to the gland below, and that gland distributes it.
It also makes vasopressin and oxytocin, which reach the posterior pituitary through neurons, and it helps regulate temperature and appetite.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Hypothalamus, StatPearlsPublished
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