Pituitary stalk
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| Brain: Pituitary stalk | ||
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| Pituitary stalk not labeled, but is the vertical blue portion. | ||
| Latin | infundibulum neurohypophyseos | |
| Gray's | subject #189 813 | |
| NeuroNames | hier-388 | |
| MeSH | A06.407.747 | |
| 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 hypothalamic-hypophyseal tract, and is responsible for the release of oxytocin and antidiuretic hormone.
[edit] 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. |
 The hypophysis cerebri in position. Shown in sagittal section. |
 Vertical sections of the heads of early embryos of the rabbit. Magnified. |
[edit] External links
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| Diencephalon - edit |
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third ventricle, interventricular foramina, optic chiasm, subfornical organ epithalamus: pineal body, habenula, habenular nuclei anterior hypothalamus: anterior hypothalamic nucleus, paraventricular nucleus, preoptic area, supraoptic nucleus, suprachiasmatic nucleus intermediate/middle/tuberal/pituitary hypothalamus: infundibulum, median eminence, arcuate nucleus, ventromedial nucleus, dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus, tuber cinereum, pituitary gland (anterior pituitary, posterior pituitary) posterior/lateral hypothalamus: posterior nucleus, mammillary body, lateral nucleus subthalamus: subthalamic nucleus thalamus: pulvinar, medial geniculate nucleus, lateral geniculate nucleus, list of thalamic nuclei |
