The pituitary stalk (also known as the infundibular stalk or simply the infundibulum) is the connection between the hypothalamus and the posterior pituitary. The floor of the third ventricle is prolonged downward as a funnel-shaped recess, the infundibular recess, into the infundibulum, and to the apex of the latter the hypophysis or pituitary is attached.
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 hypothalamohypophyseal tract, and is responsible for the release of oxytocin and antidiuretic hormone.
Read more about Pituitary Stalk: Compression, Additional Images
Famous quotes containing the word stalk:
“A barnacle goose
Far up in the stretches of night; night splits and the dawn breaks loose;
I, through the terrible novelty of light, stalk on, stalk on;
Those great sea-horses bare their teeth and laugh at the dawn.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)