THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

The endocrine

glands

• Endocrine glands release their secretions – hormones – directly into the bloodstream, from where they are distributed to target cells (tissues)

• Recall that neurotransmitters like adrenaline and noradrenaline can also be hormones!

Hypothalamus – pituitary complex

Oxytocin

• Best known for its role in lactation and uterine-contraction properties during birth

But!

The “bonding hormone”, “facilitator of life”• “Oxt is important for social memory and attachment, sexual and

maternal behavior, and aggression. Recent work implicates Oxt in human bonding and trust as well. Human disorders characterized by aberrant social interactions, such as autism and schizophrenia, may also involve Oxt expression. Many, if not most, of Oxt’s functions, from social interactions (affiliation, aggression) and sexual behavior to eventual parturition, lactation and maternal behavior, may be viewed as specifically facilitating”

From Oxytocin: the Great Facilitator of Life, Heon-Jin Lee, Abbe H. Macbeth, [...], and W. Scott Young, 3rd, Progress in neurobiology

Hypo- or hypersecretion of hGH

hyposecretion - dwarfism

hypersecretion - gigantism

during childhood

Hypersecretion

during adulthood acromegaly