Abstract
The brain controls or influences most organ and cell functions in the body, either directly by contact through nerves, or indirectly through hormones. Immediately subservient to the brain is the pituitary, our master endocrine gland. Neurohormones from the brain, called releasing factors, control each of the various pituitary hormones: adrenal cortical trophic hormone (ACTH), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), gonadotrophins (LH, FSH), and so on. In turn, these pituitary hormones control the adrenal cortex, thyroid, gonads, and so on, and influence many other endocrine functions (Figure 1). How aging alters the functions of the brain and pituitary is of obvious interest, and yet surprisingly little is known.
This chapter is contribution no. 31 from the Neurobiology Laboratory, Andrus Gerontology Center.
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Bibliography
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© 1978 Plenum Press, New York
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Finch, C.E. (1978). The Brain and Aging. In: Behnke, J.A., Finch, C.E., Moment, G.B. (eds) The Biology of Aging. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3994-6_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3994-6_19
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