How does the hypothalamus control both anterior and posterior pituitary functioning?
The hypothalamus is a complex region in the brain of humans, and even small nuclei within the hypothalamus are involved in many different functions. The paraventricular nucleus for instance contains oxytocin and vasopressin (also called antidiuretic hormone) neurons which project to the posterior pituitary, but also contains neurons that regulate ACTH and TSH secretion (which project to the anterior pituitary), gastric reflexes, maternal behavior, blood pressure, feeding, immune responses, and temperature. The hypothalamus co-ordinates many hormonal and behavioural circadian rhythms, complex patterns of neuroendocrine outputs, complex homeostatic mechanisms, and many important behaviours. The hypothalamus must therefore respond to many different signals, some of which are generated externally and some internally. It is thus richly connected with many parts of the CNS, including the brainstem reticular formation and autonomic zones, the limbic forebrain (particularly the amygdala, septu
