Flashcards: Neuroendocrinology

Pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) is a precursor polypeptide with 241 amino acid residues.

Parvocellular neurosecretory cells are small neurons within paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus.

Somatostatin, also known as growth hormone–inhibiting hormone (GHIH) or by , is a peptide hormone that regulates the endocrine system and affects neurotransmission and cell proliferation via interaction with G protein-coupled somatostatin receptors and inhibition of the release of numerous secondary hormones.

Empty sella syndrome (abbreviated ESS) is where the pituitary gland shrinks or becomes flattened, filling the sella turcica, or "Turkish Saddle", with cerebrospinal fluid on imaging instead of the normal pituitary.

Gigantism, also known as giantism (from Greek γίγας gigas, "giant", plural γίγαντες gigantes), is a condition characterized by excessive growth and height significantly above average.

The hypothalamus (from Greek ὑπό, "under" and θάλαμος, thalamus) is a portion of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions.

Releasing hormones and inhibiting hormones are hormones whose main purpose is to control the release of other hormones, either by stimulating or inhibiting their release.

Pituitary adenomas are tumors that occur in the pituitary gland.

In vertebrate anatomy, the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea and weighing 0.

Growth hormone–releasing hormone (GHRH), also known as somatoliberin or by in its endogenous forms and as somatorelin (INN) in its pharmaceutical form, is a releasing hormone of growth hormone (GH).

Hashimoto's encephalopathy, also known as steroid responsive encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroiditis (SREAT), is a neourological condition characterized by encephalopathy, thyroid autoimmunity, and good clinical response to steroids.

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are neoplasms that arise from cells of the endocrine (hormonal) and nervous systems.

The median eminence is part of the inferior boundary for the hypothalamus part of the human brain.

The vascular organ of lamina terminalis (or supraoptic crest) is one of the three sensory circumventricular organs of the brain, other two being the subfornical organ and the area postrema in the brainstem.

The sexually dimorphic nucleus (SDN) is an ovoid, densely packed cluster of large cells located in the medial preoptic area (POA) of the hypothalamus which is believed to be related to sexual behavior in animals.

The arcuate nucleus (or infundibular nucleus) is an aggregation of neurons in the mediobasal hypothalamus, adjacent to the third ventricle and the median eminence.

The subfornical organ (SFO), situated on the ventral surface of the fornix (the reasoning behind the organ's name), at the interventricular foramina (foramina of Monro), is one of the circumventricular organs of the brain, meaning that it is highly vascularized and does not have a blood-brain barrier, unlike the vast majority of regions in the brain.

The ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMN, also sometimes referred to as the ventromedial hypothalamus, VMH) is a nucleus of the hypothalamus.

The paraventricular nucleus (PVN, PVA, or PVH) is a neuronal nucleus in the hypothalamus.

The supraoptic nucleus (SON) is a nucleus of magnocellular neurosecretory cells in the hypothalamus of the mammalian brain.

The posterior pituitary (or neurohypophysis) is the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland which is part of the endocrine system.

Magnocellular neurosecretory cells are large neuroendocrine cells within the supraoptic nucleus and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus.