Hypothalamus: Neural Control Centre

Hypothalamus : The hypothalamus forms the floor of the diencephalon, richly supplied with blood vessels (including the hypophyseal portal vein, which carries its hormonal signals to the pituitary), and it is the body's chief homeostasis and internal-equilibrium centre, controlling involuntary behaviour broadly. Like the cerebrum, it contains its own hypothalamic nuclei set in white matter, including neurosecretory cells that manufacture the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin (ADH), which travel on to the posterior pituitary for storage and release.

Because it links the nervous and endocrine systems directly, the hypothalamus is described as having higher centres for the endocrine system; it regulates heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, body temperature and water/electrolyte balance, and it holds distinct centres for hunger, thirst, sleep, fatigue and satiety, as well as centres controlling the secretion of the stomach and intestinal glands, and it produces neurohormones that stimulate the pituitary gland. A complex neuronal circuit called the limbic system -- formed jointly by the hypothalamus, the amygdala, parts of the epithalamus and thalamus, the hippocampus and other regions -- appears responsible for emotional reactions, motivational drives and memory. The floor of the hypothalamus continues downward as the hypophyseal stalk (infundibulum), connecting it to the pituitary gland both physically and functionally (via neurotransmitter and neu …