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Preksha Dhyana :
the sex in abeyance, and later aids in the maturing processes of sex after puberty. In adult life, it regulates the proper nourishment to muscles and controls the action of light on the pigment of skin. It produces the normal physical and mental development of the brain cells. The rich blood supply to the pineal is suggestive of its significantfunctioning.
Some experimental evidence indicates that pineal hormones inhibit ACTH secretion, and thus indirectly help to regulate the secretions of the adrenal gland. Modern pineologists call pineal gland a regulator of regulators. (ii) The Pituitary Gland
The pituitary gland (also called the hypophysis) isabout the size of a pea, situated almost exactly in the centre of the head at the base of the brain and just behind the root of the nose. It hangs suspended from the underside of the brain in a little cup or cradle. It has a greyish yellow colour. It increases in size until about 30th year, and in the adult male, weighs about 600 mgms (slightly more in women). No part of the body is exempt from its influence.
To understand how the endocrine system works, we must look at the pituitary as well as the hypothalmus which controls it. Together they constitute a single interconnected system and control production of hormones from the other glands.
The pituitary is traditionally called the master gland or 'the conductor of the endocrine orchestra'. However, an even grander analogy must be found for the hypothalamus since it controls the pituitary. It is here that the nervous and tbe endocrine systems are co-ordinated.
The pituitary is composed of an anterior and a posterior part. The former produces six different hormones and is controlled by hormone-like releasing factors from the hypothalamus. Four of these are trophic hormones, that is, they regulate the action of other endocrine glands :
Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) stimulates the thyroid.
Adrenocortico trophic hormone (ACTH) stimulates the adrenal gland.
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