Neuroscience and Behavior Term Paper

Neuroscience

Hormones and the Nervous System

Of the many highly interesting features of the brain and the nervous system that are detailed in this chapter of the text, the one that I found most interesting is the relationship between the nervous system and the endocrine system, which controls the hormones secreted throughout the body. The initial comparison between hormones and neurotransmitters that the text makes initially helps to provide an immediate basic understanding of how the chemical messengers that hormones are might operate, but as the text goes on to describe the actions and direct effects of hormones it becomes clear that it is only in the simplest of sense that hormones are similar to neurotransmitters. Still, the influence that the endocrine system and the hormones it produces have on the nervous system are a major part of the way the body works, and the nervous system's influence on the endocrine system and hormone levels is another part of the whole puzzle that is a human being.The location of the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland that it closely regulates is a major part of the interconnection between the brain and the endocrine system, and the fact that the pituitary dangles down directly from the brain makes it clear that the nervous system and the endocrine system are inextricably linked for a reason. I found it very telling that the pituitary gland is referred to as the "master gland" and yet is so directly under the control of the hypothalamus. This puts the "mastery" of the endocrine system in the hands (or the lobes) of the brain. The complex cascade of electrical and chemical messages that are sent through….....