PITUITARY GLAND

a gland, pea-sized in humans, which is located at the base of the brain, linked by a stalk to the hypothalamus. It is divided into a posterior and an anterior lobe, that vary in operation. The anterior lobe generates and excretes seven hormones, follicle-stimulating hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, growth hormone, luteinizing hormone, prolactin, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and melanocyte-stimulating hormone, in reaction to dispersing hormones from the hypothalamus. The posterior lobe excretes two hormones, oxytocin and vasopressin, that are broken down within the hypothalamus and carried down axons within the infundibulum to the neuro-hypophysis in reaction to direct neural excitement. The pituitary